Sermon: We Love Mormons!

Apologia Studios

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♪ Only first in my heart ♪

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High King of heaven ♪ My treasure

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Thou art ♪ High King of heaven ♪

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My victory won ♪ May I reach heaven's joys ♪

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O bright heaven's sun ♪ Heart of my own heart ♪

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Whatever befall ♪ Still be my vision ♪

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O ruler of all Amen, you may be seated.

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If you would open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, 2

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Corinthians chapter 11. We're gonna start in verse one.

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2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse one. Hear now the word of the living and the true

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God. I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness.

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Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

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But I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

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For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

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Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you'd bless today as we,

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Lord, open your word and learn from you. I pray that you would get the teacher out of the way, that you would open eyes and ears and hearts, that you'd fill minds with truth and hearts with truth, that you would raise the dead to life.

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You, Lord, help me to communicate your glory, the truth about Jesus and the gospel.

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We pray that you continue to use our body to love the Latter -day Saints, our Mormon neighbors and family.

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Help us to love them with a true love that is without hypocrisy, a love that is genuine.

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Help us, Lord, to reach them with truth and humility. In Jesus' name, amen.

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So, you know, it's funny. I'm coming out here to do this message on we love

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Mormons, we love the Latter -day Saints. And everyone knows, if you've been here for some time, the bulk of this conversation is that there are different Christs.

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Paul says so right here, different gospels. You know, they might look the same, they might actually use the same terminology, but we have a completely different dictionary.

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And it's so interesting, because I, before I came up here, I went into the bathroom and I saw

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Cade. And I said, hey man, what's up, bro? Good to see you. And he looks at me and it's not

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Cade. Awkward moment. So I wanted you to see it yourself. Can you do me a favor? Can you stand up so you see?

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I want you to see this. Boys, go ahead and stand up. I know it's totally awkward, but this is, so turn around.

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I wanted everyone to see what I saw. Okay. So, not

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Cade, right? Looks like Cade, not Cade. Very embarrassing moment in the bathroom for a man.

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Hey bro, how you doing? Like he knew me or something. And he actually, I made him show me his

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ID. Because I thought Cade was totally messing with me. Apparently not.

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So there's a good example, before I even woke up, of application. It might look like the right

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Jesus, but in fact, it is not. Paul says so.

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And here's the thing, as we approach this conversation, we might have Latter -day Saints today in our assembly with us, and we want you to know that you are loved.

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We care for you. We're not here to mock you. We're here to examine truth.

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The Bible says, To test all things, hold fast to that which is true. And what does true love do?

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True love tells the truth when it's an obligation to do so.

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True love, of course, will try to do it with graciousness and humility, but true love will tell the truth, even if it makes somebody uncomfortable.

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Even if it may actually destroy the relationship. Jesus says as much, by the way, in coming to him, he actually says to crowds of people at one point in his ministry, he says that if anyone comes to him and does not hate, and then he names the most important people in your life, mother, father, sister, brother, wife, and then he goes as far as to say, in even your own life, you're not worthy to be my disciple.

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Jesus says, whoever's not with me is against me. The truth claims of Jesus Christ are exclusive.

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Jesus says in John 14, 6, one of the most famous verses most people have memorized, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

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No man comes to the Father but by me. Now, of course, today, even I wanted to say this to Latter -day

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Saints who may be watching this, even amongst evangelicalism today in the 21st century, it's difficult to find a lot of people actually upholding that exclusive truth of Jesus, that he is, in fact, the only way to peace with God.

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There is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

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It's hard to get a lot of people today in our malachoy generation to say the hard truths, to say the kind of truths that actually do create division.

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And it's interesting because you see the Apostle Paul, we read 2 Corinthians 11 there, that's in the 1st century, in the context that they're not very far away from, in time, the ascension of Jesus Christ.

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He's died, he's risen again, he's ascended, and the Apostle Paul has to speak to a 1st -century church in Corinth about the fact that they actually might put up with someone coming in and preaching a different Christ, a different gospel, a different spirit than the one they received, and he's worried for them.

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And notice what he says there. He says, I'm afraid as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, some translations say craftiness, he says, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion which is to Christ.

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And he says, for if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus, or if you receive, then we proclaimed, or if you received a different spirit from the one you received, or you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, he basically says, you might put up with him,

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I'm worried about you because you'll be deceived, and I'm worried about you that someone will come preaching a different Christ and a different gospel, and you might actually put up with it, and it actually is a popular thing in our day, amongst even people in the

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West who are professing Christians, to put up with other Jesuses, other gospels which can't save.

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Now why is this important? Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the

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Father but by me. If you have the wrong Christ, if you have the wrong gospel, then you are still dead in your sins.

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You don't have peace with God. It's faith in Christ that saves, but it is faith in the true

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Christ, through the biblical gospel. And it's interesting because the Apostle Paul here in 2

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Corinthians chapter 11 has to actually bring this out in the first century context, again, not far after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and then in Galatians 1, he severs the idea that we can have a gospel that is not defined.

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Now if you read Galatians, it's not long, it won't take you long to actually read it. If you read Galatians, you'll see that the

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Apostle Paul is dealing with a gospel that sounds so very similar to the true gospel.

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It seems like it's not a big deal. What are you barking mad at, Paul? Why are you so upset about this?

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All these people want to do, the Judaizers, is they simply want somebody to just take that one aspect of the old covenant, circumcision, so essentially become a

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Jew first with Messiah, entering into this whole relationship with Jesus, just do the circumcision.

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If we could just keep that part of our Jewish identity, just keep circumcision.

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Paul says at the end of Galatians, he says, Christ has become of no benefit to you, whosoever of you attempts to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace.

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And he goes on to say in that same passage with a serrated edge, pun intended, that he hopes the people who are trying to do this cut themselves off.

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That's the Apostle Paul, that's how serious he is about it. And it's interesting because this is the Apostle Paul.

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This is the same Apostle who throughout the letters we can see instances where the Apostle Paul is dealing with conflict coming from this united church in the first century with people who are now

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Gentiles and Jews together in one body. Never happened before. Jews had a hard time with that.

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How are they gonna have fellowship at the table with these Gentiles? And Gentiles, where they're just pagan, they're bringing all kinds of a mess in.

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And the Apostle Paul has to deal with issues in that context to essentially tell the church, look, if the person's a weaker brother, don't make him stumble.

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You know, if they wanna eat this, let him eat that. Do it to the glory of God. Before your own master, you stand or you fall.

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In other words, the Apostle Paul demonstrates throughout these letters that we have in the New Testament from him that while he's dealing with church order and unity of the faith, he allows the adiaphora or those side or tertiary issues to be just that.

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They are not core. They are not foundational. And he essentially tells people, and you know, I've said this before laughing, essentially the advice then to a body that has different opinions over adiaphora is shut up, right?

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Be quiet. Don't destroy your brother, right? Have it to yourself before the Lord. Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.

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But on these issues within the body of Christ, do not let this disrupt your unity. Be unified in Christ.

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Love one another with brotherly affection. Forgive one another. Outdo one another with honor, Paul says.

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Love is without hypocrisy, Paul teaches. And so we know the Apostle Paul is not creating this stringent sort of Pharisaical, even though he was a

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Pharisee, Phariseical view of the church. In other words, you gotta come in here, you gotta dress like me, you gotta look like me, all have the same haircuts, have the same length of dress, and all of the rest, eat this kind of food, do this, watch this thing, or whatever the case may be, it's not that.

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However, when it comes to what matters most, the essentials of the faith, who

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God is and what the gospel is, the Apostle Paul actually says, if anyone comes preaching a different gospel, let them be anathema.

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Eternally condemned, separated from God. I want you to see it with your own eyes. In Galatians chapter one, the

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Apostle Paul opens up with this address, that he's

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Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the

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Father who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia.

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our

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God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever, amen. Now imagine, you're in Galatia, everyone's so excited,

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Paul's brought a letter in, everyone's so excited, we got a letter from Paul, let's read it before the congregation, the people are there, the children are there, everyone's excited, oh,

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Paul wrote to us, what's he have to say? And here's the opening, right, everyone? You're like, oh, grace and peace,

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Paul, you're such an encourager. He has the gift of encouragement, he does, right? You know, it's just this wonderful opening, and here's what it says immediately in verse six,

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I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting him, note that, deserting him, who called you in the grace of Christ, that's the issue, and are turning to a different gospel, now that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ, but even if we,

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Paul's including himself, the apostles here, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed, the word there in the

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Greek is anathema, it's one of the strongest ways you could describe condemnation, eternal separation from God, as we've said before, so now

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I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be anathema, so the apostle

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Paul believed that the gospel could be so clearly defined that you could say, this is the gospel, and this is not the gospel, this is the gospel, and this over here is abandoning the grace of Christ, and what was it?

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Something that just seemed like a small issue, something that most churches today wouldn't even balk over, they'd say, what's the big deal if they want to go ahead and add that to the gospel, what's the big deal?

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Paul says this, you choose that, now you're under the curse, fulfill the entire law, and you can't,

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Jesus is the one who became the curse for us, so that we'd be justified by faith, now this was interesting, because we live in a time where nobody wants to define something as this is objectively true, this is the fact of the matter, this is the case, we live in a time where even professing evangelicals want to say, hey, let's just work together, let's just feed the poor, let's just do nice things, let's just worship a surfer hippie

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Jesus, we want the world to love us, here's the thing, people say today, you're creating all kinds of controversy, you're doing all kinds of hard things in the culture, you're saying things that are making people angry, you're saying things that are gonna get you in trouble with the state, my answer is, oh like Jesus?

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Do we forget it was the state that murdered Jesus, do we forget that it was his own people that actually tried to kill him, do we forget the fact that he would say things that people would pick up stones to kill him,

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Jesus is the truth, he's truth incarnate, and when

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Jesus was among us in his earthly ministry, he spoke the truth in a way that was of course humble, but also bold, and he always was able to say this, but not that, he would always say things like God says, but you say, contrasting their words, their traditions, with the word of the living

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God, and it didn't make him a lot of friends, remember that at the foot of the cross, you had

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Jewish leadership, people who had the Torah, they had the Tanakh, they knew what the word of God said, they were at the foot of the cross, reviling

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Jesus, because he spoke the truth, he spoke the truth about himself, he spoke the truth about them, and of course it created controversy, but here's the key thing, what you do see as a pattern in the

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New Testament, throughout the New Testament, is that who God is, and what the gospel is, are central issues, these are areas where you must be willing to let everything go, these are areas where you must be willing to speak the truth, no matter the consequence, and the apostle

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Paul here demonstrates in those two passages, just those two passages, that there are other

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Jesus's, other gospels, other spirits, that cannot save us, and we need to make sure that we're taking note of this truth, of this fact, and I just want everyone to hear this, some of my greatest heroes in history are not

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Reformed Baptists, some of the greatest men, I think I will never get close to their level of depth, of intimacy, and knowledge, just the way that their mind works,

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I mean some giants of the faith were Anglicans in the past, some of my greatest heroes in history are

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Presbyterians, I'm a Reformed Baptist, some of our closest friends today are Presbyterians, and we work together, we serve alongside one another, do we have differences among us?

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Yes, they're wrong, we're right, but it doesn't matter, I'm teasing, but not really, no, but here's the thing, look, when we get together, we serve

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Christ together, what do we hang on? The truth, and the essentials, you know where we have those other debates,

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James has them with their leading proponents, publicly, with mediation, and then he preaches at their church the next day, we go out to have dinner together after we do a conference together, or we're serving

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God together on the streets, and we talk about it then, you see, we can work together in unity around the essentials of the faith, this matters, it matters a lot, in my way,

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I want to just announce this quickly, my way into this discussion is I wasn't raised in a Christian home, and so I had really no experience with this book at all,

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I think I told you guys before that my knowledge of this person named Jesus Christ came from watching the movie about Jesus when

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I was a kid, we had a dusty old Bible that sat on top of my parents stereo, no matter where we were at in the world, where Japan, Holland, where my dad was in the

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Air Force, and this Bible always sat on that stereo, and it just collected an inch of dust, and I came home one night after teaching for my karate school around 16 years old, and on the television was

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Billy Graham, and it was for the first time I ever heard that you can actually have the gift of eternal life through trusting in Christ, and so of course,

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I prayed that prayer afterwards, and I received a new testament from them in the mail, and I was just really getting into this,

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I didn't know anything about where should I even start in this book, and so it was starting to happen for me,

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I was in love with this book, and in love with the word of God, and I'm reading it and reading it, I'm bringing it to class,

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I'm getting yelled at by my teachers for reading the Bible in class, when I should have been paying attention to calculus or something stupid like that, but I was in theater arts class after school, one day we were preparing for a play, and while they were doing the scene on stage and rehearsing,

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I was reading the Bible, and my friend Wade came and sat down next to me, and he said hey, what are you reading?

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I said the Bible, he said oh, he said are you Christian? I said yeah, I just got saved, and he goes oh,

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I'm a Christian too, I was like oh, isn't it great to be saved? He's like yeah, and he goes after some conversation, he said hey, what level of heaven do you think you're going to?

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And this was new to me because I was new to this book, and so I hadn't read that part yet, and so I just said to Wade, I said hopefully the highest level, right?

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I'm new to this, is that the right Christian answer to give? I want to go to the highest level, right? And he was like yeah, so I said what church do you go to?

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He said oh, I go to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I'm a Mormon. I said oh, he said yeah, that's my denomination, and so when we dispersed and this thing was over,

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I went to the Christian bookstore down the road, which I was like a fixture there at this point, and I walked in, I knew the owner, his name was

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Tony, and I walked right in one day, and that day I said Tony, hey, can you tell me anything about the denomination of the

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Mormons? And he was like, he was like Jeff, that's not a denomination, that's a cult, and so he runs to the back, he grabs me all these materials, and he just throws it at me, it's like movies, and it's books, and everything else, and he says just take these, no charge, and so I go home, and I studied those books, and watched those things, all night, literally till the next morning, and I didn't even sleep, and I started taking notes, and writing things down, and marking the books up, and I went to a copy place the next morning before school started, and I made copies of, photocopies of like, historical documents, and Joseph Smith's arrest record, and Bainbridge, New York, for crystal ball gazing, and all these different things, and I'm writing down verses, and taking photocopies of Bible verses, in the scriptures, and by the time

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I was done, I had like a book, and so I remember it was the next day, I found Wade, I said Wade you're in a cult, and I threw the book at him,

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I do not recommend that, so we created a relationship, this is where it all started for me,

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I loved Wade so much, I loved his family, they had me into their home, they brought me into their family,

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I ate dinner at their house with them, I loved them, they were some of the sweetest people, I had ever known, as a matter of fact, their family life, was such a joy, and delight to me, because it was so far, from my own family life, my parents were not believers, it was a really rough house, to grow up in, and being with Wade's family, was such a blessing, and missionaries would come over, and they would speak to me for hours, they took me to the temple, in Washington DC, during Christmas time, and I would just debate, every single person that they brought,

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I loved them, and after like months, and months of witnessing, to Wade, I, I, he was in my house one day, and I'm giving him the scriptures, and I'm giving him these verses, and you could see, that it was having an impact, and he broke down, and he was sitting on my bed, in my bedroom, we were sitting there, going through the scriptures, and he said,

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Jeff, I know everything, you're saying is true, I know it, I know it's true, and so I said,

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Wade, so are you, are you ready to turn to Christ now, or do you want to turn to Christ, he said, I can't, he said, if I leave the church,

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I lose everything, I lose everything, I can't, if I leave the church, I lose my family,

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I lose my friends, I lose everything, I know what you're saying is true, but I can't leave the church, and I wasn't even a

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Christian for very long, and that verse just swelled up in my soul, I said to him, what shall a prophet of man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul,

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Wade, and that started my passion, for the Mormon people, I'm going to just say this publicly,

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I've said it before, Latter Day Saints, are some of my very favorite people, on the face of this earth, truly,

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I mean that, they're like my very, some people say, oh, Pastor Jeff, you know, what you guys do as a church, you go out there, you're so courageous, you're so brave, no we're not, no we're not, you know,

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I've been to my atheist rallies, that's brave, when you're outside of an abortion mill, and preaching the gospel, to women who are going in, to kill their children, and Antifa is showing up, shaking their jeans, and everything, maybe that's kind of brave, but the

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Mormon community, is so lovely, so wonderful, I don't think it takes, a lot of courage at all,

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I just love them, I love them, and so I moved to Arizona, I moved to Arizona, and I was by myself, 17 years old,

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I hadn't even graduated, high school yet, and I saw a sign, a billboard up, that talked about, the

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Mormon Easter pageant, in Mesa, and I didn't really have, any friends or anything, but I had all kinds, of Mormon documentation, so this is kids before Google, where to get these materials, you had to, you had to order them, through the mail, you had to pay for them, like with a check, and you would get them, and you had to have, all the materials, and these big fat books,

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I wanted to show people, the original historical documentation, I didn't want to just say, your church teaches this,

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I wanted to show them, in their own materials, so I had so many books, I think my arthritis came, in my spine, from carrying my backpack, with those books,

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I truly believe that today, but I grabbed my Bible, and I grabbed some tracks, and I grabbed these books,

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I put it in a big book bag, and I hauled this thing over, to the Mormon temple, in Mesa Arizona, and that was my first day out there, preaching the gospel,

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Jerry and I didn't even know each other, but we ended up in a conversation, with a latter day saint, we both had never met before, but we were literally saying to him, the exact same things, in that conversation, and when it was over, we were like, hey nice to meet you, and we departed, we met four years later, at a

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Starbucks, he was reading the case for Christ, and I just sat myself down, I was like that's a nice book, we discovered like months later, we're like hey that was you, at the

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Mormon temple, that was kind of cool, providential moment, that's also where I met Dr. James White, the first time, and he was surrounded, by a group of young missionaries, and young Mormons, and they were all firing questions at him, and he was answering back, preaching the gospel, answering every question, and my passion to reach, the latter day saints only grew, and so we spent countless hours, outside the

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Mormon temple, creating conversations, having relationships with them, we would have a conversation, last for hours out there, than we would meet for dinner, at the person's house, there were times, we were out there, until three or four o 'clock, in the morning, never a camera in sight, no audio recordings, it wasn't until many years later, that we started recording, these conversations, and putting them out, for the benefit of the church, and for other

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Mormons, to watch the conversation take place, and since that time, thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of Mormons, have seen those videos, and have turned to the true

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Christ, because of them, it's a big praise to God, today I was actually looking for something, and I found an old video, put up like eight years ago, put it up, and I just looked through the comments, for a moment,

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I never read the comments, because I want to stay sane, but I was just reading, comment after comment of Mormons, who came to that, they watched the whole conversation, they went to their

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Bibles, and then they turned to Christ, or they used that video, to share with a loved one, and then that person turned to Christ, God has done so much, and that's by the way, why we want to go to Utah, because we love the

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Mormon people, we want to see them know the true Christ, we don't want to rob them of anything, we don't want to rob them of truth, we don't want to rob them of life, we don't want to rob them of joy, we want them to know the true

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Christ, and therefore true, and lasting joy, that's what we're doing, so to understand this,

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I'm going to go as quickly as I can today, we have lots online, Pastor James has engaged, with their leading apologists, over 30 years of ministry, 30 years with Mormons, 30 years of ministry, and so you can watch those, tons of lectures online, so I'll just give you a burst today, in terms of why is this so important, first thing

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I'll say, why is it important, because the Bible tells us it is, there's a true gospel, there's a false gospel, there's a true

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Christ, there's a false Christ, one saves, the other one doesn't, it doesn't matter how much,

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Christian terminology you borrow, if you are redefining, who Jesus is, it is a figment of your imagination, it is an idol, and idols cannot see, they cannot speak, they cannot hear, and they cannot save, and by the way, that rule applies to us too, this is not a one -sided thing, this is a rule for all of us, truth matters, if I'm shown to be wrong, by the objective testimony of God's word, then

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I need to change, not God's word, so the first thing you need to know, in terms of talking about Mormonism, the church,

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Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints, as you need to understand, I'm gonna skip a lot of stuff today, is there are claims that there was an apostasy, an apostasy, the church fell away, and it needed to not be reformed, but restored, because there was a full -on, complete and total apostasy, and the church needed to be restored, now we don't have time today to go into, because it would take an entire

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Sunday or two, to talk about the different first vision accounts, you need to know, early on in the history of Mormonism, there was no record or discussion, of a first vision account, that came later, and there are actually, a number of different first vision accounts, that actually do contradict one another, but here's the nuts and bolts, this is what you will hear, from the

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Mormon missionary, when they come to your door, in Joseph Smith's first vision, first vision, he says,

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I was answered, that I must join none of them, this is where heavenly father, and Jesus, two separate and distinct beings, appeared to him, and he was told, when he asked them, which church to join, to join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the person that you addressed me, said that all their creeds, were an abomination in his sight, an abomination, that those professors, those who profess the faith, were all corrupt, they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, so the

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Mormon story, at least from the first vision account, begins with an attack, on the church of Jesus Christ, the

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Mormon story begins by saying, all the Christian creeds, are an abomination in God's eyes, and all

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Christian professors, are all corrupt, join none of the churches, because they are all wrong, another example, this is from second president, of the church,

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Brigham Young, in journal of discourses, six verse 176, he says, brother

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Taylor has just said, that the religions of the day, were hatched in hell, the eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and kicked onto the earth, speaking about the

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Christian church, the third president, John Taylor, in the journal of discourses, 13, 225 said this, quote, what does the

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Christian world know about God? Nothing, why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the various of fools, they know neither

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God, nor the things of God, these are from their prophets, these are from the people, that are supposed to be spokesmen for God, they believe they have a modern prophet, on the face of the earth, that speaks for God, the words of God, Brigham Young actually taught, that he had never given a sermon, nor sent it out to the sons of men, that they could not call scripture, so Brigham Young, second president and prophet, of the

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Mormon church, actually said that his sermons, were in fact, scripture themselves, apostle

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Orson Pratt, and the seer, page 255 says this, quote, all other churches are entirely destitutes, of all authority from God, and any person who receives baptism, or the

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Lord's supper from their hands, the Christian churches, highly offend God, for he looks upon them, as the most corrupt of all people, the only persons among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who have authority from Jesus Christ, to administer any gospel ordinance, are those called and authorized, among the latter day saints, now

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I know, that for latter day saints, growing up today, in this context, this is even shocking to them, and it's interesting, because back in 1996, and even earlier of course, before that,

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Mormons used to refer to us, as Gentiles, as Gentiles, and they were quite excited, and happy to open their

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Bibles with us, when I first began this missionary effort, and actually go to the text, and they were willing completely to say, yes, you're lost, your church is wrong, your creed is an abomination, you are corrupt,

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I believe Joseph, that was in 1996, a lot has changed in the west, in the last couple of decades, and so now, often times it's hard for us, to even get a conversation, outside the

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Mormon temple, with a Mormon who wants to actually say, that we're wrong, most of the

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Mormons they run into today, outside the temple, will tell us you're fine, and we're fine, we're Christians, we're all fine, we don't think that you're completely wrong, everything's fine, we're good, the

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Mormon church even today, if you look at their website, when they talk about the first vision, they actually change the language, in the description of the first vision, to soften the blow, in terms of they're an abomination, their creeds, their professors are corrupt, they change it to soften it, to become more mainline, evangelical, in their perspective, and how they look, but this is, and it cannot be denied, classic

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Mormonism, this is the Mormon story, in which by the way, is also I believe, one of the reasons, because of these sorts of contradictions, there are also many different sects, of Mormonism, that have grown up of course, over generations, but in particular, this last generation, where Mormons who believe

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Mormonism, they want to be faithful, they're serious about their faith, they go to the words of their prophets, and apostles, and they say, these guys are saying different things, than you're saying today in Salt Lake, and so they're going off, and actually creating different sects, to try to be more faithful, to what is real

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Mormon thinking, another one from Spencer Kimball, the 12th president, in Miracle of Forgiveness, page 55, he says, presumptuous and blasphemous, are they who purport to baptize, bless, marry, or perform other sacraments, in the name of the

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Lord, while in fact, lacking the specific authorization, they believe that they hold the true priesthood, and nobody else should be doing these things, because they are the one true church on earth, in the

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Book of Mormon, it says this, there is a church of God, and there is a church of Satan, and that's it, another one from Apostle Bruce R.

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McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 269, he says, and virtually all the millions of apostate

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Christendom, have abased themselves, before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ, whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence, who is incorporeal, uncreated, immaterial, and three in one, with the

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Father and Holy Spirit, that's the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, they still sell his book,

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I wonder at Deseret Bookstore, I don't know, he says some pretty strong things, but we need to address these claims, first and foremost,

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I wanted to put this out there, to level the playing field, right, this harsh and strong words, from the

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Apostle Paul, an inspired Apostle says, there is another Christ, another gospel, another spirit, and he says, if you preach a different gospel, he says, anathema, may you be eternally condemned, he says,

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I don't care if it's an angel, that comes down into your bedroom, if it's a different gospel, let him be anathema, and of course, on the other side, the

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Mormon Church, has very clearly defined, that there is a church of God, and a church of Satan, we have creeds that are an abomination, and we are all wrong, we believe in a mythical Christ, so we have a level playing field here, amen, yes, so let's get to the truth, first thing, in addressing the apostasy claims, of Joseph Smith and company, in Matthew 16, 18, long before Joseph Smith, was a glimmer in his parents eye,

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Jesus said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell, will not prevail against it,

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Joseph said that they did, and it needed to be restored, Jesus said, never, it won't ever happen, in Jude verse three, we're told to earnestly contend for the faith, which was once for all, delivered to the saints, once for all, delivered to the saints, earnestly contend for the faith, which was once for all, delivered to the saints, and another one from the old testament, this can go on guys, but Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 through 14, it's a promise long before Jesus comes, about his kingdom, and his salvation, and it says that Daniel, was looking in the night visions, and behold one like a son of man, was coming on the clouds, and he came up to the ancient of days, and was presented before him, and to him was given, dominion glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, men of every language, might serve him, his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one, which will not be destroyed, you see that's the promise, long before Joseph Smith Jr.,

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came on the scene, and claimed to be talked to by an angel, and claimed to have a first vision, and created an entirely new vision, of who

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Jesus is, and an entirely new gospel, long before Joseph Smith Jr.,

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got here, Christ already declared the truth, and Jesus has been on his throne, for 2 ,000 years, ruling and reigning, putting his enemies under his feet, and his church has been here, the entire time, you know the amazing thing too, in Joseph's day, if you read the 19th century literature, what was going on in those days, all kinds of stuff was going on, religious fervor, and those sorts of things, you had the shakers, and you had the people, who were in debate, with each other theologically, you know what's amazing, even about that time, in the 19th century in America, reformed

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Baptists, Presbyterians, we essentially share, the same confession, our confessions are near identical, except over the issue, where we're right, and they're wrong, baptism, and some other issues, but we share the same confession, so you could say in that day, in the 19th century, well who do

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I join, the reformed Baptists, or the Presbyterians, I'm so confused, we believe in the same God, in the same gospel, same

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God, same gospel, same Bible, the areas where we disagree, are side issues, of course those have created, conflict in the past, but in terms of where we are at, fundamentally the same, if you talk to an

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Anglican, in those days, they would have told you, the same God, they would have pointed you, to confessions of faith, that were near identical, to ours, and Joseph said, that he was so confused, but Christ has been, building his church, and he'll continue to build, his church toward victory, so Mormons will say, pray about it, this is really important, because as you engage, this issue today, especially today, especially today,

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Mormons aren't as apt, to actually go to the text, with us and say, what does the word say, is Joseph's revelation, consistent with this revelation, what they'll often do, is what of course, they've always done, is they'll say, you need to pray, about the

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Book of Mormon, and you'll get a burning, in your bosom, to show you that it's true, you need to pray, about the

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Book of Mormon, you need to pray, to see if it's true, here's the problem, scripture never tells us, to test truth that way, why, because our hearts, are deceitful, we are, if you are lost, and dead in your sins, and trespasses, you can't pray prayers, like that for truth, as though, your own subjective experience, is the standard of truth, in my latter day saint friends, you know that this is true, in your own life, you can't accept somebody, simply saying,

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I prayed about it, and it feels right to me, I had an experience, with the Holy Ghost, and I know that it's true, do you know how many people,

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I've had sit in front of me, as a chaplain, at a hospital, who told me that, they were living lives, of sexual promiscuity, immorality, cheating on their wives,

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I've had people sitting in front of me, that were living, in homosexual lifestyles, and telling me that,

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I've prayed about this, and I know that God, is okay with it, is that a good test for truth,

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I've prayed about this, I know that God, is okay with this, I believe that God is okay, with us living together, outside of the bonds of marriage, even though I know, this book says that,

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I've prayed about it, and I believe God's making, an exception for me, or how about this, if we pulled into a room right now, a

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Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, a Muslim, a Rosicrucian, a

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Christian scientist, all of them would say, they believe in Jesus Christ, and they would all have, different versions of Jesus, for example, the

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Muslim doesn't believe, that Jesus was necessary, as an atonement for our salvation, that Jesus died on the cross, for our sins, they have a different version, of Jesus Christ, they don't believe, that Jesus Christ is

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God himself, but they say Jesus Christ, and that they honor him, as one of the prophets, when you talk to, a

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Jehovah's Witness, what does the Jehovah's Witness say, they say that Jesus Christ, is the first and greatest creation, of Jehovah God, that Jesus is

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Michael the Archangel, they believe that Jesus Christ, is a different Christ, than the

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Mormon Christ, when you talk to the Orthodox, confessional historic Christian, we say that Jesus Christ, is the eternal

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God, second person of the Trinity, always existed, in intimate fellowship with the

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Father, from all eternity, there was never a time, when Jesus Christ was not God, and did not exist, he is the same yesterday, today and forever, that's a different Christ, and each one of these people, admit it now, we have to all confess this, if you take the

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Christian, the Mormon, the Jehovah's Witness, the Muslim, the Rosicrucian, the Christian scientists, put them in a room, they will all have intense, spiritual experiences, will they not?

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They'll say things like, I pray, the Muslim prays, sometimes more than the Christians do, many times a day, they have a sincere devotion, to their religious experience, and they feel deeply, that it's true, they've prayed about it, they know it's true, is that how you test truth?

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By praying about it? The Bible says, the heart is deceitful, above all things, sick beyond cure, who can know it?

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If you trust in your heart, you're a fool, scripture doesn't tell us, to pray about it,

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God actually has spoken, and he gives us tests, for testing truth, and testing prophets,

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I want you to see these, in your Bible, go to Deuteronomy, chapter 13, Deuteronomy chapter 13, this isn't a law of God, God's brought his people together, in a relationship with himself, he's come into covenant, with them, and he gives them, a standard for testing prophets, those who are, pretenders of truth, here's what he says, in Deuteronomy chapter 13, verse one, if a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, arises among you, and gives you a sign, or a wonder, and the sign or wonder, that he tells you, comes to pass, and if he says, let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them, then you should not, listen to the words, of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, for the

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Lord your God, is testing you, to know whether you love, the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, so here's a test, where God actually says, if a prophet, or dreamer of dreams comes, they have signs and wonders, and it actually happens, imagine that for a second, it looks absolutely legit,

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I mean actually, miracles are happening, signs and wonders, they're telling you things, and it actually happens, but they lead you, after a different God, that is how you know, there are false prophets, in other words, what's the standard, brothers and sisters,

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God's previous revelation, of himself, is always the standard, in other words,

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God has spoken, that's the standard, that's what we stand on, that's the foundation, and even if somebody comes, and they have what looks like, a miraculous ministry, it seems so true, it seems like God is really in this, how could he not be, if that person contradicts,

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God's previous revelation, that's how you know, they're a false prophet, this is God's acid test, for a prophet, so Joseph Smith, was not supposed to be tested, by prayer, but by scripture, by the word of God, God's revelation of himself, another test, for God's people, is

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Deuteronomy 18, same book, couple pages over, Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 20 through 22, here's what it says, but the prophet who presumes, to speak a word in my name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name, of other gods, that same prophet shall die, and if you say in your heart, how may we know, the word that the

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Lord, has not spoken, when a prophet speaks, in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass, or come true, that is a word that the

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Lord, has not spoken, the prophet has spoken it, presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him, this is powerful, because what's it saying,

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God is telling you, this revelation right here, 66 different books, and letters written, by so many different authors, over a period of maybe, 2000 years of composition, this entire revelation, from God, find one false prophecy in it, and it's wrong, nothing else can do that, nobody else can do that, man made religion, cannot accomplish that, this book is chocked, full of prophecy, about the future, and God's test, is well,

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God's sovereignty, he's the one who actually, wields all of history, he controls all things, he declares the end, from the beginning, so he is the only one, that can actually, tell you the future, before it happens, and get it right, every single time, and God's telling you, if you wanna know, if someone's truly from me, from the sovereign

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God, the one who's really, in control of history, the one who actually, wields all of history, here's how you know, they're a prophet, every time they give you, a prophecy, it must come to pass, there cannot be, any failed prophecy, in other words, one failed prophecy, means you're what?

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A what? A false prophet, Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith, actually had many, let's go to that test, now we'll start, with the false prophecies, by the way, this is one of the most, this is one of the most, amazing tools,

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I have had, in all my years of ministry, to the latter day saints, because oftentimes, again

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I would carry, this massive collection, of books on my back, and create problems, for myself, and I wanted to show, my

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Mormon friends, and neighbors, from their own sources, their own materials, this is what your prophets, taught, and oftentimes,

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I would say, we'll say things like, Brigham Young taught, that Adam, in the garden of Eden, was our father, and our

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God, and the only God, with whom we have to do, he brought Eve, one of his celestial wives, with him, and he actually says, if you deny, that Adam, in the garden of Eden, was our father, and our

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God, he says you'll be condemned, to hell forever, Mormons would say,

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I've never heard that in my life, I don't believe that, where does it say that, I would say, where does it say that, it's a phenomenal resource, it's just photocopies, of their original sources, so let's start with the test, of a false prophet,

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God says, if the thing, does not come to pass, that's the word, which the

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Lord has not spoken, the prophet has spoken it, presumptuously, you shall not, be afraid of him, now we can't exhaust this, completely today, but we can do some, so let's do a few, and you have to forgive me, this is a new copy, of where does it say that, my old one, is marked up, there you go,

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I should have this memorized, by now, Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, volume 11, page 269,

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August 19th, 1866, he says, in one point, the only men, who become gods, even the sons of God, are those who enter, into polygamy, let me say it again, and this by the way, explains why there are, so many sects of Mormonism, that are polygamous sects, they know, what their church has taught, regarding polygamy, it is something, that you cannot, just simply get rid of, you'll be condemned,

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Brigham Young says this, you will never become a God, if you are not a polygamist, and that explains, why you have so many, polygamous families, and polygamous sects, today in Mormonism, they're just trying to be, faithful Mormons, Brigham said, you have to become a polygamist, to become a

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God, he also says, do you think, this is 1866, do you think, that we shall ever be admitted, as a state into the union, without denying, the principle of polygamy, if we are not admitted, until then, we shall never be admitted, well if you know the history, and the story, the

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United States government, put a lot of pressure on Utah, and essentially told them, if you don't start practicing, this heinous practice, we're gonna drive you out, and essentially exterminate you, and then

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God changed his mind, and the revelation came, that there was no longer, a need to practice polygamy, that is in the history, here's one from Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, volume 13, page 362,

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May 5th 1870, God promised in the year 1832, who did?

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God did, from Orson Pratt's perspective, this is a word from God, God promised in the year 1832, that we should before, the generation then living, in 1832, had passed away, returned, and built of the city of Zion, in Jackson County, we believe in these promises, as much as we believe in any promise, ever uttered by the mouth of Jehovah, the latter day saints, just as much expect to receive, a fulfillment of that promise, during the generation, that was in existence in 1832, as they expected the sun, will rise and set tomorrow, why?

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Because God cannot lie, he will fulfill all his promises, he has spoken, it must come to pass, any question about, where this prophecy is coming from?

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God himself, from his own mouth, he cannot lie, did it happen? No, failed prophecy, we can keep going, another one, this is

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John Whitmer, History of the Church, volume 1, page 176, June of 1831, after he had prophesied, he laid his hands upon Lyman White, and ordained him, to the high priesthood, ordained him as a high priest, after the holy order of God, and the spirit fell upon Lyman, and he prophesied, concerning the coming of Christ, he said that there were some, in the congregation, 1831, some in the congregation, that should live until the savior, should descend from heaven, with a shout, with all the holy angels with them, he said the coming of the savior, should be like the sun, rising in the east, and will cover the whole earth, so with the coming of the son of man, yea, he will appear in his brightness, and consume all the wicked before him, and the hills will be laid low, and the valleys be exalted, and the crooked be made straight, and the rough smooth, this is in 1831, describes the account of him, laying hands upon Lyman White, Lyman White prophesying, and by the way, it's not hard to get this, in the 19th century, there's actually a lot of fervor, as there is today, about whether we're the terminal generation, the last generation, are we in the last days, and that is of course, why the church is called, the church of Jesus Christ, of last days saints,

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Joseph Smith taught, that Jesus Christ was gonna return, before that generation had all died, another example,

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Joseph Smith, history of the church, volume one, page 323, January 23rd, 1833, he says this, among the number, my father presented himself, but before I washed his feet,

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I asked him a father's blessing, which he granted, by laying his hands upon my head, in the name of Jesus Christ, and declaring that,

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I should continue in the priest's office, until Christ comes, we know of course, that Joseph Smith, was actually murdered, in Carthage, it was a surprise, and here's what

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Joseph Smith said, in the history of the church, volume two, page 145, August 16th, 1834, he says, but in case, the excitement continues to be allayed, and peace prevails, use every effort, to prevail in the churches, to gather to those regions, and locate themselves, to be in readiness, to move into Jackson County, in two years, from the 11th of September is next, which is the appointed time, for the redemption of Zion, didn't happen, another one,

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Joseph Smith, history of the church, volume two, page 182, February 14th, 1835, it says this,

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President Smith then stated, that the meeting had been called, because God, had commanded it, where's this coming from?

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God, he's the one who called the meeting, and it was made known to him, by vision, and by the

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Holy Spirit, this isn't Joseph's own interpretation, this is word from God, during a meeting that God called, he talks about how the saints, were to go forth, to prune the vineyard, for the last time, or the coming of the

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Lord, which was near, even 56 years, should wind up on the scene, 1835, plus 56, it's 2021, didn't happen, how many chances, does a prophet get to fail, according to God?

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Zero, you get one false prophecy, you are not from God, you are a false prophet,

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I don't care how nice you are, I don't care how handsome you are, I don't care about, your personal history, beyond that moment, if you give a false prophecy, and say, thus sayeth the

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Lord, and it doesn't happen, you are a false prophet, and it doesn't matter, how beautiful Mormonism is, one thing you have to see,

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Salt Lake City is, well, south of Salt Lake City, the neighborhoods, and the communities, and the families, it's just such a lovely place, you can't deny it,

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Mormon communities, and families, nice places to be, would you rather live, in Sandy or Draper, Utah, or Southeast DC, right, what, we were in Southeast DC, it's not always safe, right, it's not the place, you can let your kids, just run outside and play, has to do with just, the environment, like how you build the community, right, it doesn't matter, how nice the community is, it doesn't matter, how much passion you have, for the lifestyle, if God says, this is a failed prophet, you have to say, am

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I going to believe God, or am I going to continue, to believe the failed prophet, now here's some more, the other test was what, so we have false prophecy, and what was the other test, no other gods, in other words,

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God's revelation says, that's the standard, if the prophet denies, what

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God has said, and they lead you, after another God, they're a false prophet, I'm going to read this to you, from Joseph Smith, it's his actually, most famous sermon, message, it's known as, the

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King Follett discourse, here's what he says, this is about a month, before he was murdered, a month before he was murdered, in Carthage, he gave this funeral sermon, at the funeral of a man named,

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Elder King Follett, I think he died in a well, right, didn't something fall on him, in a well, yeah, and so this is a sermon, during that funeral, it's his actually, most famous message he gave, he actually illustrates, very clearly, what he teaches about God, are you ready?

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Here it is, I'm going to read you, snippets from this, journal of discourses, volume six, page two, 1844,

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Joseph Smith says, there are but a very few, things, beings in the world, who understand rightly, the character of God, the great majority of mankind, do not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which is to come, as respects their relationship to God, my first object, is to find out the character, of the only wise and true

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God, and what kind of being he is, but if I fail to do it, it becomes my duty, to renounce all further pretensions, to revelations, inspirations, or to be a prophet, it's very serious, about this revelation, he says this,

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I will prove, that the world is wrong, by showing what God is, I'm gonna inquire after God, for I want you all to know him, and to be familiar with him, you will then know, that I am his servant, for I speak as one having authority,

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I will go back to the beginning, before the world was, to show what kind of being God is, God himself, was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned, in yonder heavens, that is the great secret,

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I say if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man, in form, like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form, as a man, it is necessary, that we should understand, the character, and being of God, and how he came to be so, for I'm gonna tell you, how

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God came to be God, we've imagined, and supposed, that God has been God, for all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away, and do away the veil, so that you may see, here then, is eternal life, to know the only wise, and true

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God, and you have got to learn, how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings, and priests to God, the same as all gods, have done before you, namely by going from, one small degree to another, and from one small capacity, to a great one, from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain, to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell, in everlasting burnings, and to sit in a glory, as do those, who sit enthroned, in everlasting power, he says this, speaking at the beginning, he says, page five, volume six, thus the head

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God, brought forth the gods, in the grand council, in the beginning, the head of the gods, called a council of the gods, and they came together, and concocted a plan, to create the world, and to people it, here's need to understand, what

59:38

Mormonism, Joseph Smith was a polytheist, he believed in many gods, there's essentially, an infinite regression of gods, it goes back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and there is an unlimited view, toward the future of gods, the whole goal in Mormonism, is exaltation, it is not, reconciliation, peace with God, forgiveness and salvation, with the true

01:00:03

God, that's the biblical gospel, in Mormonism, the goal is not, eternal life, in terms of going, from death to life, being reconciled, to the one true

01:00:15

God, being saved, from your sins, and your transgressions, knowing God, for all eternity, worshiping this true

01:00:23

God, for all eternity, the goal in Mormonism, is to become gods yourselves, the same way all gods, have done before you, hey by the way, does this sound familiar, are you ready, tell me, tell me if you can finish this for me, ready, it's always, a little bit of truth, with a little bit of twisting, in this case, a lot of twisting, here then is eternal life, to know the only wise, and true

01:00:47

God, and Jesus Christ, may ascend, sound familiar, he took, the words of Jesus, that related to the true

01:00:58

God, and himself, and he says this, here then is eternal life, to know the only wise, and true

01:01:04

God, and you've got to learn, to become gods yourselves, the same way all gods, have done before you, in Mormonism, the story is

01:01:12

Elohim, who is heavenly father, was once a man on a planet, just like this, he had a

01:01:18

God before him, who had a God before him, who had a God before him, who had a God before him, and this

01:01:24

God, through exaltation, and obedience, to gospel principles, he became an exalted, man and God, he was a polygamist, in the pre -existence, and through celestial sex, he produced the spirit offspring, of this planet, one of those spirit offspring, was

01:01:45

Jesus Christ, another one of the spirit offspring, is Satan, Lucifer, and so the

01:01:52

Mormon story, Jesus Christ is not the same, yesterday, today, and forever, eternally existent, as the eternal son of God, Jesus Christ is essentially, one

01:02:02

God among many gods, it's an entire pantheon of gods, it is literally, an unlimited number of gods, one of the

01:02:10

Mormon prophets said, there are more gods, than there is matter,

01:02:17

Mormonism is a polytheistic religion, what does the Bible say, about these things, by the way, get this, you've done so much for us,

01:02:29

Pastor James, thank you, this, is the hundred verse, memorization system, how long has this been around, what, a wonderful resource, if you don't have this, go to aomen .org,

01:02:49

download this, it's the hundred verse memorization system, for Mormons, it has of course, a hundred verses to memorize, related to evangelism, with the

01:02:58

Mormons, it's actually very, very important to think in categories, if they believe this about God, they believe this about Jesus, they believe this about salvation, and there's just a lot of verses there, with explanations, as to why it's important, to memorize these texts, related to it, but if you look inside, the hundred verse,

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I'll give you an advertisement, for aomen, okay, if you look inside here, there's a section here,

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I want to point you to it, under God, a section under God, with the verses to memorize, they're actually, all written out for you, a number of them, that are effective verses,

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Mormonism teaches, that Elohim, again, is one God, among many gods, he came from his daddy

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God, before him, who came from his daddy God, before him, Elohim is married, in the pre -existence, he has many wives, of course, he's a polygamist, and that's how, the spirit offspring, of this earth, came into being, you all, according to Mormonism, and Joseph Smith's revelation, are spirit offspring, of Elohim, in the pre -existence, and his goddess wives, there is, there are mother gods, in heaven, over this earth, and you came to this earth, and were given a body, so that you can go through, the same pattern of exaltation, as Elohim did, so that you can be exalted, and becoming a

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God one day, of your own planet, and ladies, you get to be eternally pregnant, isn't it wonderful, that's the story, what's the

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Bible say, let's try this, Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four, hear

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O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, hear

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O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, that's in the morning, and evening prayers, when

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Jesus was asked, master, what's the greatest commandment, in the law, he quotes the Shema, hear

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O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, Isaiah 43, 10, you are my witnesses, says the

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Lord, my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know, and believe me, and understand that I am he, before me, there was no

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God formed, neither shall there be after me, did you hear it, before me, there was no

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God formed, neither shall there be after me, brothers and sisters, that's

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Isaiah, that's nearly 700 years, before the ministry of Christ, and long before Joseph came along, and distorted that story, another verse,

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Isaiah 44, six, and verse eight, God says, I am the first, and I am the last, besides me, there is no

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God, God says, is there a God beside me, indeed there is no other God, I know not one, now is

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God all knowing, scripture God says, he doesn't even know of any other God, he's the first, he's the last, there's none beside him, none before him, and none after him, another verse,

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Isaiah 45, five through six, I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no

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God beside me, I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me,

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I am the Lord, and there is none else, by the way, these are all King James version, because the

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Mormons used the King James version, so it's good to memorize these in King James, and Pastor James put all these in here, in King James version, even though he wrote the

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King James only controversy, and if you don't know why, you need to read that book, so you know why, it's actually a beautiful translation, here's another one,

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Isaiah 45, 22, look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am

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God, and there is none else, Psalm 96, five, for all the gods of the nations are idols, but the

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Lord made the heavens, there's a distinction, and so in Mormonism, Mormonism begins, with a denial of the

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Trinity, historic, orthodox, confessional Christianity, what scripture teaches about God, it is a polytheistic religion, that has a pantheon of gods, an unlimited number of gods, and the goal of exaltation, is to become a god or goddess of your own planet, one day,

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Jesus Christ in Mormonism, is a spiritual offspring, of Elohim, and one of his goddess wives, what does the

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Bible teach about that, how many of you guys have read, the

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Forgotten Trinity, hold your hands up, higher, now put them down, how many of you guys haven't read it, hold them up,

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I know he's over there shedding tears, you need to get, you really do, you need to get the

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Forgotten Trinity, it's a small book, it'll bless your life in a big way, it'll take scripture, it'll cause you to love

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God even more, and love his truth, and the consistency of his word more, the Forgotten Trinity, here's a good definition, for the

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Trinity, within one being called God, there exists eternally, three co -equal, and co -eternal persons, namely the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one being of God, three co -equal, and co -eternal persons, the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Bible teaches, that there are three persons, called God, the

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Father is called God, that's not disputed, Jesus is called God, he calls himself

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God, he takes all the prerogatives of God, scripture teaches that he is God, from the Old Testament, to the

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New Testament, and the Holy Spirit is called God, and yet the Bible teaches, that there is a distinction, between Jesus, and the

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Father, and the Holy Spirit, that's what the Bible teaches, when we talk about the person of Christ, Mormonism teaches, that there is a pantheon of gods, and an infinite regression of gods, going all the way back, with mommy gods, and daddy gods, giving birth to other baby gods, they become gods one day, that's the story, of the universe, what's the

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Bible teach, about Jesus Christ, in the beginning was the, and the word was, with God, and the word, was

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God, that's how John, opens his gospel, verse one, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was

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God, in the Greek, as far back as you wanna go, with no reference point, to stopping, in other words, forever ago, the word was already there, and it's not just, that he was there, it says that he was, he was toward the father, he was with the father, he was an intimate relationship, with the father, and the word was

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God, as to his nature, God, the same was in the beginning, with God, and it says what, in John chapter one, about Jesus Christ, it says, all things were made by him, who,

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Jesus, and without him, here it is, was not anything made, that was made, in the

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Mormon story, in Joseph's story, Jesus Christ is one God, among many gods, he came after other gods, he didn't create all things, in existence, that is a different Christ, it is a

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Christ, that cannot save you, you know the glory, of John chapter one, here's the glory, of John chapter one, the one

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God, took on flesh, and walked among us, to do what, to save us from our sins, you see the amazing thing, of this story, is that God, gets all the glory, man made religion, doesn't like a story like this, why would you distort, this glorious story, of the one true and living

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God, the creator of all things, who condescends, in the second person, of the

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Trinity, Christ, condescends, enters into creation, to redeem rebels, for his own glory, why does man made religion, distort that, because man wants glory, for himself, so what does man made religion do, it borrows

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Christian terminology, pours entirely different definitions, and meanings into it, to create a story, that does not glorify

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Jesus Christ, but it glorifies men, it glorifies women, the story is about, what

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I do, to achieve exaltation, what I do, to achieve salvation, and it's something, that can never be done, because the only righteousness, that saves is

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Christ's, perfect righteousness, and that is only received, according to scripture, as a gift, not only did

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Joseph Smith, distort God, and the nature of God, who Christ is, but of course,

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Joseph Smith, also went after the gospel, the gospel itself, we're going to end on this, you guys know, we can go for a long time,

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I want to just sort of, condense these thoughts, into the important points, by the way, when we go out, to do evangelism, with our

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Mormon friends, and neighbors, listen, you can talk, about a million things, you could go into,

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I said it, the arrest record, of Joseph Smith Jr., for crystal ball gazing, which is an occultic practice, by the way, apparently in New England, they were theonomists, because they had the law of God, against occultism, and crystal ball gazing,

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I don't think the gospel coalition, wants to talk about that, but Joseph Smith, was arrested in 1826, in Bainbridge New York, for crystal ball gazing,

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Joseph Smith was known, amongst his neighbors, and in his area, this is a documentable fact, it cannot be refuted, he was known, as a con artist, his family, was known, for these sorts of shady dealings, they would engage in,

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Joseph Smith, was always in a lot of trouble, for a lot of different things, you could talk about, the fact that he was essentially, in relationship with other women, before he received, the revelation from God, of polygamy, and then of course, he gets a revelation from God, about polygamy, and God has a revelation, for his wife, that if she doesn't accept it, she's going to go to hell forever, convenient way, to get your wife to accept it, you could talk about, all those things, you could talk about, the book of Abraham, and how

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Joseph Smith, gets these documents, that are traveling through, like with a traveling museum, and he says, oh look, this

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Egyptian exhibit, it's been brought to us, by the hand of God, by his own power, this is actually, the book of Abraham, this is the book of Abraham, and God's delivered it to us, to translate into, the pearl of great price, well we have, what he translated from today, at the time, the

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Rosetta Stone information, hadn't gotten over to us yet, people didn't know, how to translate this, this dead

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Egyptian language, and so Joseph Smith said, I'm translating from this language, into this, and this is the book of Abraham, it's all about, it's all about polytheism, but no one could check him, during that time, well now we can, we have the original document, we have what he wrote, he made the entire thing up, the whole story, at some points, the

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Egyptian symbol, what meant the, and you have an entire paragraph, he translated from the word the,

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Joseph Smith, has a long history, of fraud, and charlatan behavior, and you could talk about, that sort of thing, but here's the thing, if you love your

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Mormon friends, and neighbors, all that is gonna do, is irritate and agitate them, and cause them to clamp down, to firm up their commitments, this needs to not simply, be about personalities, it needs to be about truth, what did

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Joseph say, here's what he said, here's what God says, now about the gospel, what does the church,

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Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints, teach about salvation, faith, of course for them, it's exaltation, it's becoming a god, and goddess, of your own planet one day, but, at a basic level, the third article of faith, says, we believe, that through the atonement, of Jesus Christ, all mankind, may be saved, by obedience, to the laws, and ordinances, of the gospel, we believe, that through the atonement, of Jesus Christ, all mankind may be saved, through obedience to the laws, and ordinances, of the gospel, 2nd

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Nephi 25 23, from the book of Mormon, this is a really important one, this is a room, full of a lot of professing believers,

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I want you to finish this for me, for by grace are you saved, try it again, give me now the scripture, now our scripture, for by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the, gift of God, not according to, works, less any man, should boast,

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Ephesians 2 8 and 9, well here's the book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 25 23, for we labor diligently, to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God, for we know that it is, that we are saved, that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do, by grace we are saved, after all we can do, scripture says, by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not according to works, less any man should boast, and in 2nd

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Nephi 25 23, it says by grace are you saved, after all you can do, that's a gospel that cannot save, that's a gospel that cannot save,

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Paul said in the first century, to people who tried to add to grace, circumcision, he says you do that, you're now under the curse, of a filthy entire law, it is either all grace, or it is law, do you want

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Christ, and his righteousness, or do you want to stand before God, judged in your sin, what do you want, do you want the gift, or do you want the wage, the wage is going to be for us, nothing but punishment, because we are unrighteous, we are not good, we do not seek for God, we are by nature children of wrath, we are enemies of God, I'm quoting

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Paul here, so you need grace, you need Christ's righteousness, you need the freedom that comes, through the gift that he gives, you need to find yourself, hiding in Jesus Christ, Mormonism teaches a gospel, that uses

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Christian terminology, like Jesus, and grace, and faith, and life, and salvation, and all they have to offer, is death, death,

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Jesus came, to seek and to save, the lost, Jesus came to do the will of the father, to lose none of the father, that the father had given to him,

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Jesus said things like this, in John 5 24, truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my words, and believes him who sent me, has, has, eternal life, and has not come into judgment, but has passed out of death, and into life,

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Jesus gives life, to all who come to him, to trust in him, and his work, to all who come to him naked, no boasting, no self -righteousness, you come to him with empty hands, you come to him to receive living water, with a mouth open to receive, you need his righteousness,

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I'm just going to point you to a text, we can again do this for a long time, but I want to point you to a text, that explains, how

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God saves, very clearly, and this is from the inspired apostle, and I want you to remember, as you read this, the standard in scripture, is if somebody leads you after a different God, they're a false prophet, here's what, scripture says in Romans chapter 3, it says, verse 10, as it is written, none is righteous, no not one, no one understands, no one seeks for God, all have turned aside, together they have become worthless, no one does good, not even one, their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive, the venom of asps is under their lips, their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes, you have to stop and realize something, that all sounds very bad, and we're tempted at times, because of our sin, because of our flesh, to think about the other person out there, that resembles that,

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I think I know that person, I think he's in the White House now, maybe, something like that, we're always looking outward, who is that?

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Jesus, but the reality is, we're never gonna understand

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Christ, we're never gonna understand the gospel, we're never gonna understand our great need, if we don't understand that Romans 3, 10 through 18, is a description of me, it's me, this is my standing before God, with all my good deeds, and all my righteousness is, outside of Jesus Christ, if I'm not in Jesus Christ, this is how

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I stand before God, as a hater of God, as someone who does not fear God, who does not seek

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God, who has no fear of God, before my eyes, this is a description of every single one of us, outside of Jesus Christ, so the question is, how do you remedy that?

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Through taking some, benefits from Jesus, and then trying to work the rest out yourselves, the

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Bible says this, verse 19, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, this is

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Romans 3 by the way, did I say that? 19, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin, what's the law do to sinners?

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It exposes your sin, what else does it do? It shuts you up before the throne of God, where's your boasting before God's throne, when his holiness, and his character, is the standard, and you're the sinner, where's your boasting?

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What are you gonna say? What are you gonna say before the perfect standard, of justice, righteousness, and holiness?

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What are you gonna brag on? All it's gonna do is close your mouth, it shuts you up, the law of God will shut your mouth, on the last day, and it says, by the works of the law, no human being will be declared righteous in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin, and here's the beautiful story of the gospel, but now, the righteousness of God has been manifested, apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe, for there's no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

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God put forward, as a propitiation by his blood, that's a diversion of wrath, you deserve it,

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I deserve it, it goes the other way, and Christ receives it, and exhausts it, by his blood, to be received by faith, this was to show

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God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins, it was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, and what becomes of our boasting, it is excluded by what kind of law, by a law of works, no, but by the law of faith, and here it is, are you ready?

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Joseph says, God says, that's the test, by the way it applies to me too, you test my words, by the word of the living

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God, if I teach things, that are contrary to the word of the living God, you believe this revelation, and not me, pastors have an authority within the church, but it is not above this, this is the authority, that we all bow to,

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Joseph says, by grace, after all you can do, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints says, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all mankind may be saved, through obedience, here's what scripture says, here's the apostle

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Paul, in Romans 3, 28, for we hold, that one is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law, and here it is, chapter four verse one,

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I'm just going to read this, what then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God, for what does the scripture say,

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Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due, and to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing, of the one to whom

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God counts righteousness, apart from works, blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man, against whom the

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Lord will not count his sin, there's the story, oh boy, and it is a good one, it is a good one, we are declared righteous by faith, apart from the works of the law, and here's the, you know what, you can take this one thing, and examine every pretender to truth, every religion that uses

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Jesus' name, and talks about the gospel, and you can bring it all down to father Abraham, that's what Paul does here, he brings it to father

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Abraham, look, if you say, that you're a believer, that you follow the true Messiah, and you're saved, you're gonna have the same faith as Abraham, and here it is, ready,

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Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, is that what your religion says, all the

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Christian veneer, all the borrowing of Christian terminology, here's the standard, Abraham believed

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God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, that was before the law was even given, hundreds of years before Moses, it was before Abraham did anything, he believed

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God, it was credited to him as righteousness, by the way, it was also before he did circumcision, so before circumcision, before he offered his son

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Isaac on the altar, before the law was given, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and Paul says that's the center point, do you have that kind of faith, is that what your gospel says about salvation, before works, before righteousness, before anything, he believed

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God, and it was counted to him, credited to him as righteousness, and Paul says this, if you're working for it, if you're working for it, it's a wage, and not a gift, those aren't the same thing, and so when

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Mormonism, robs the Mormon people of hope of eternal life, by distorting grace, what are they doing, they are trying to blend together, works and grace in a way that will never work, it is either gift, or it is wage, and there's a problem, and it's right here in the text, did you notice it, it passes us by, very easily, and I'm gonna end on this note, because it's a huge one, it is what every man made, false

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Christian religion, muddies, they will all say, oh sure Jesus did his work, he died on a cross, he was perfect, he's the son of God, he rose again from the dead, even if they get those points right, they'll still say, however it's not enough, you must be in yourself, somehow, obedient enough, you've gotta do enough of this, or enough of this, or look this way, you've gotta have enough looking just right, so that with Christ's help, and your obedience,

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God can look into you and say, okay I declare you righteous, why, because there's some righteousness within yourself, and obedience to declare righteous, that's not the biblical gospel, look at the text, in verse four, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as is due, and to the one who does not work, but believes in him, who justifies the ungodly, you see my gospel, the biblical gospel, the one

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I'm telling you to believe, says that God declares righteous the wicked, now watch, in a court of law, that's an abomination, for a judge to look at somebody, that is truly guilty, and to say,

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I declare you righteous, so how does God get away with it, are you ready, substitution,

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Jesus takes my place, he's credited as the guilty one,

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I am credited with his righteousness, so that when the father sees me, and he declares me righteous, he's not declaring me righteous, because I am in myself righteous, he's declaring me righteous, on the basis of the righteousness of another, it's

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Christ's righteousness, and I'm hiding in him through faith, that is the biblical gospel, and if you want life, the call of the gospel, is to repent, and to believe, turn from your sin, be joined to Christ by faith, trusting in him, his righteousness, his death, his life, you're looking away from yourself, now and forever, and the benefit, you want to see the benefit,

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Romans 5, 1, therefore, since we have been justified, that's declared righteous, by the way, by faith, we have peace with God through our

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Lord Jesus Christ, we have been declared righteous, we have peace with God, that is the benefit of the true

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Christ, and the true gospel, I can say today, not because I am righteous in myself,

01:30:03

I can say today, I have already been in the courtroom, and God's already made the declaration, you're righteous in Jesus, and I have today, presently, shalom, peace, and it is not, to my

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Mormon friends that may be here today, please hear my heart in this, that's not a temporary cease fire between me and God, it doesn't change from moment to moment, because Christ's righteousness, is a perfect righteousness, and the only life that Jesus gives, is eternal life, and I have peace with God for all eternity, and do you know what

01:30:41

I'm looking forward to, for all eternity, worshiping Him, not receiving worship in myself,

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I'm a creature, I don't deserve to be worshiped, He is the creator, He deserves all the glory, the honor, the power, and if you want life, and peace with God, turn to the true and living

01:31:02

Christ, and brothers and sisters, I hope you can see today, for our church body, why this is such an important ministry, and mission for us to be on, there are people all around the world, believing in a false

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Christ, and a false gospel, we need to give them the truth, so they can come, and have peace with Jesus Christ, amen, that's why we're doing what we're doing, let's pray,

01:31:23

Father thank you for your word, thank you for Christ, thank you God for your truth, for your gospel,

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I pray Lord that you would allow this message to bless, to open the eyes of the blind, and draw your people to yourself, in Jesus name, amen.