Jeff Durbin: Loving the Lost Mormon, Pt. 2
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Pastor Jeff Durbin teaches further on how we can reach our Mormon neighbors with the Gospel.
-1 Corinthians 11:1-4-
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- on essentially a single point. And so in Galatians chapter 1,
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- I'm actually going to read a bit of this just to show you the importance from an inspired apostle.
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- Galatians chapter 1, starting in verse 1, hear now the word of the living and the true
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- God. 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, grace to you and peace from God our
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- 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. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting
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- Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
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- Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
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- But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
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- As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be anathema.
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- For I am now seeking the approval of man or of God. Or am I trying to please man?
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- If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a slave of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
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- For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
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- For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the
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- Church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people.
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- So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the
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- Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me.
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- But I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years,
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- I went up to Jerusalem to visit, and that's Peter, and to remain with him 15 days.
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- But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. In what
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- I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
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- And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.
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- And they glorified God because of me. Then after 14 years,
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- I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. And I went up because of a revelation and said before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the
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- Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had run in vain. But even
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- Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a
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- Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery, to them we did not yield in submission, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
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- Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray together. God, thank you for your word.
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- Thank you that you speak to us, Lord. Thank you that we can have certainty and knowledge because,
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- Lord, you've condescended. You've spoken to us. Thank you, Lord, for this remarkable letter from the
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- Apostle Paul. Lord, that you had predestined and ordained to be given to us, your church, throughout the ages.
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- Lord, that we would understand the importance of the preservation of the true gospel. Lord, grant to us that ability,
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- Lord, to defend the gospel. And grant to us the same passion that the
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- Apostle Paul had by your spirit, to defend it and to preserve it in Jesus' name. Amen.
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- So this is, in particular, very, very important. I mentioned last week that we have these two sections that I had read through, and that was 2
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- Corinthians chapter 11 and Galatians, both written by the Apostle Paul, an inspired apostle to the church.
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- These are the words of God. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, we have testimony early on in the history of the
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- Christian church of people preaching other Christs, other gospels.
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- This is within the generation of the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension. So these are people in that generation that may have walked with Jesus.
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- They touched Jesus. They held him. They saw the miracles. They were witnesses to the resurrection.
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- It's that generation. And in that generation, you already have people giving you fictional
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- Christs, other gospels. And Paul is saying to the church in 2
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- Corinthians 11, he says to them that he's worried that if someone comes in and preaches a different Jesus, he says, you might even put up with these people.
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- You might let them in and preach a different Jesus. But I thought there's only one Christ. And it's amazing.
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- Actually, last week, I posted the soul food from Dr. Walter Martin on my public page.
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- I posted the soul food about a different Jesus. When someone says, I believe in Jesus, Dr. Walter Martin says, the first thing
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- I ask them is, which one? Which Jesus do you believe in him? And someone posted underneath that.
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- They said, isn't there only one? And that's the problem. There is only one true and living
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- Jesus Christ. But there are plenty of other false Christs, lots of different Jesus Christ.
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- Netflix right now has a new special. There's been so many of these documentaries and shows done about Waco and David Koresh and all of that.
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- There was Paramount did one years ago, like a docuseries, sort of a reenactment of the whole entire situation.
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- And now a new one, very popular on Netflix, an actual documentary from both sides of the conflict in Waco.
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- It was the ATF agents, the FBI, and then those who were actually in the building there when that whole thing went down.
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- They thought that David Koresh was Jesus Christ. So we have an example in this very generation.
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- Many of us, I remember, do you guys remember the television for all those weeks, watching TV, this whole thing going down?
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- We didn't have social media, all that stuff. I think we had You've Got Mail.
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- We had AOL Online. That was pretty much it at the time when that was going down. But we didn't have the way to communicate like we have now, doing live streams and just all that stuff.
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- And so you're just a slave to what's happening on TV. And many of us remember just in the last couple of decades, we had
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- David Koresh in the Waco compound. We had Heaven's Gate. We had all of those things.
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- And this has been the problem since early on in the beginning of the church. There is only one true
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- Christ that can save you. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.
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- And yet there are all kinds of versions of Jesus Christ, Christ that have no existence.
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- And why is this important? It's important because only Jesus can save you. And if you come to an idol that is actually not
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- Jesus, you are coming to something that has no eyes, no ears, no thoughts, no real existence.
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- You're coming to an idol that's as good as a stone idol. It can save nothing. It can do nothing for you.
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- It knows nothing about you. It doesn't control the future. It has no providence. It is a false god.
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- And so Paul warns the church in Corinth, I'm worried about you, that you might even put up with these people.
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- You might give them grounds. It's a false Christ. You need to resist that. And then in Galatians, you have this early testimony to a false gospel that Paul says, look, if I come back to you and I preach something different from the gospel that I preached, let me be eternally condemned, separated from God forever.
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- If an angel comes from heaven, even Moroni, preaching a different gospel, you must reject that.
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- That is anathema. And Paul seems to believe something that the evangelical church in the
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- West or the professing Christian church in the West doesn't actually believe today, that the gospel is so clearly communicated by God that it can be understood, it can be articulated, and it can be defended.
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- We're loose now with our gospels, right? We're so loose. Like, I'll just give them a pass.
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- It's just a little different. They've only added a couple of things and steps to the gospel. Paul says this in terms of what was going on in Galatia.
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- We did not yield for a moment. In order that the truth of the gospel would be preserved because only the biblical gospel saves.
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- Yes, the good news of Jesus Christ is huge. It is so big.
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- It's bigger than just the doctrine of justification by faith. It is bigger than that.
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- It's the gospel of the kingdom. It's a whole story of redemption that God laid down in history long before Jesus came.
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- It's what Jesus did in his life and his death and his resurrection. Of course, the gospel is big.
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- You can talk about it in so many different categories, but there is a heart of the gospel. And justification by faith alone and Christ alone is the heart of the gospel.
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- And what Paul is dealing with in Galatia is another gospel that he says we didn't yield for a second, not for a moment.
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- We would not yield for a moment in this false gospel. And what was it? Something that most people would say,
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- Paul, you're being kind of heavy handed here. Like, what's the big deal? This is a new movement of the
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- Christian faith. These people are saying they believe in Jesus as Messiah. They're saying, of course, you need to trust in Jesus.
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- They're not denying that grace is necessary. They're just saying, goodness gracious, we've got to keep this
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- Jewish identity. We've got to at least keep the circumcision. It's faith in Jesus, but you've got to keep this identity marker.
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- You've got to keep the circumcision. Just this one thing, can we just pull that over as necessary, like it's grace, of course.
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- It's Jesus, of course. It's faith, of course. But can we at least keep this sign?
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- Can we at least require this to be part of this community, to actually be in?
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- Can we just say it's faith and circumcision? And as you read the letter of Paul there in Galatians, you'll see that Paul actually goes out a long distance to demonstrate that it is through faith, apart from any work of law.
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- And then Galatians 5 is the summary. I'm going to read you what he says, because you need to hear the serrated edge of the inspired apostle against this false gospel that sounds so close to the real thing.
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- It's grace. It's faith. It's Jesus. Yes and amen. And then it's also just this one thing.
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- Let's just make justification all those things, but you've got to at least have this thing.
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- You've got to pull over circumcision, Paul. Don't lose that. That means so much to us. Why? I can't figure out to this day.
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- But we've got to keep the circumcision. And so Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, verse 1, he says this.
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- For freedom. Don't miss it. Don't pass it. Don't lose that.
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- You heard him at the beginning. Did you hear him? The grace of Christ.
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- You are abandoning the grace of Christ to a different gospel.
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- It's grace that is at stake, freedom that's at stake in Jesus Christ.
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- You are giving it all up to embrace a corrupt and false gospel.
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- You're losing salvation. You're losing grace. And here he says in 5, 1, for freedom.
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- Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
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- Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision,
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- Christ will be of no advantage, no benefit to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.
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- You are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace.
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- For through the spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly await for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
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- You are running well. Who hinders you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
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- He's saying this, it's not from God. This message isn't from God. It's not from the one who called you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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- Every bread maker in here is like, whoop. OK, I know. I have confidence in the
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- Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.
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- But if I, brother, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed.
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- I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves.
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- Did you catch that? I think most people sort of, the pious sort of like read right past that.
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- I don't know what that means, emasculate. He's saying like, you guys love circumcision so much.
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- Whoever's influencing you in this way, it's not the one who called you. But these guys that are just, they want to do it.
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- They want to do circumcision. They want to keep that. He's like, I hope they cut themselves off all the way.
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- Yeah, that's hardcore. That's not Paul obeying the 11th commandment to be nice, right?
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- That's Paul saying, I hope you go all the way. You like to play with knives? Go ahead. Play with knives. I hope you cut yourselves completely off.
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- That's how serious Paul is. In one letter, like at the beginning and the end, he's like, let them go to hell forever.
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- Let them be eternally condemned without hope. And he says, and I hope you cut themselves, you cut yourselves off.
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- Hardcore, serious, because the gospel's at stake. That's why this is so important. So I believe that there are instances where we get jaded, and we get too relaxed, and too loose, and we lose our love for the lost.
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- So I'll give you two examples. One, current event stuff going on right now. Roe versus Wade has fallen.
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- And so what does the Christian church do in response? They assume Roe has fallen. That was the enemy. And so we'll start to back away now.
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- I can't tell you how many people I've talked to in states across the country just this session.
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- We're going to a state, or we're talking to people in a particular state. Good Christians, solid Christians, love Jesus. And they think abortion is over now, right?
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- They think that we have abortion bans or abolished in certain states. Abortion is illegal nowhere in this nation right now.
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- It is happening across the nation right now. We haven't even actually established justice anywhere right now. But what we do is we get jaded, we get tired.
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- And so an enemy, we think, is backed up a little bit. And so we just sort of say, OK, let's take a break now. And we'll delay justice.
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- We do that. We get jaded. We get tired, right? We lose our perseverance. We lose our discipline. We lose our love for these children.
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- We lose our love for the lost. And even in the case of Mormonism, I think oftentimes we forget we have real people who are going to hell.
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- We have image bearers of God that were called to love who are dying and going to hell. You have neighbors all around us believing in a false
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- Christ that can never save them, a false gospel. They have a gospel that is not a gospel of grace.
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- It is not a gospel that brings any freedom. It is a gospel of slavery. It is a yoke of slavery.
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- And they don't know. They can't see. They don't know the grace of God. They don't know what
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- Christ brings in His gospel, His righteousness, and the gift of eternal life. They don't know the Savior that you and I know.
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- And so we get jaded. And so we let loose. We're not disciplined. We don't persevere. We don't keep pursuing with the gospel, because we don't love our neighbors above ourselves or our own things.
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- And we certainly have a reputation, I think, at times of yielding, yielding, submitting to false gospels, pairing up with those who actually preach a false gospel, and letting those differences sort of go by the wayside.
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- And Paul is teaching in this epistle, in this letter, he says, look, if you accept this, then
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- Christ is of no value to you. You have abandoned grace. There is no gospel for you.
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- There is no forgiveness for you. There's no freedom for you. If you accept this, you have no grace from God, nothing.
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- You've chosen a different path. It's the path of law. And he says, try that. We see it in the scriptures.
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- If you try it, if you put yourself under the law to say, God, justify me by my righteousness and my obedience, you have to do it perfectly.
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- And there is only one in human history that has done it perfectly, only one. If you want righteousness before God, you need the righteousness that the apostle
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- Paul said that he had and that he wanted. It was in Philippians, he says what? He wants the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ, a righteousness that is not his own.
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- It's Christ's righteousness. That's what the Mormon people are missing, a perfect righteousness.
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- And if you know the Mormon community, you know just how sweet and lovely so many of them are.
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- You know how hard they try to keep it together, to obey the word of wisdom and all the different rules and ordinances.
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- You know how they try to be good temple -worthy Mormons. You know their belief about their lives and their future and what they're doing in an effort to become a god or goddess of their own planet one day.
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- And so they're working hard. They're under this huge burden and this yoke of slavery.
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- You know, it's sad, honestly. If you go to Utah, you'll see signs all over the freeways, everywhere about the opioid epidemic in Utah.
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- It's at critical mass there. It is really, really bad. So many Latter -day Saints addicted to pills, pain pills.
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- Why? To numb themselves, right? To feel good, to somehow make their consciences feel better.
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- You've never seen so many cosmetic surgery places, right? Because it's the problem of having to look the perfect part, having to look like the perfect Mormon family.
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- You have to look righteous on the outside. You have to look like you have it all together. You obey all the rules. You have it all right.
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- And so even down to the women, it's a huge yoke of slavery on the women to be the perfect Mormon mother, right?
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- The perfect Mormon wife. And so you've got cosmetic surgery places galore everywhere, next to the
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- Best Buy, next to, like, Shake Shack. I mean, it's like you've never seen so many. Why?
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- To look beautiful on the outside, to look good, to look like you have it all together. Why? Because there's an internal need within Mormonism to look righteous, to have it all together.
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- Why? Because the goal is exaltation. I have to be perfect, right? So that the grace of God can be sufficient for me.
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- What's the goal here when we reach the Mormon neighbors? What's our goal? Is to give them gospel of grace, to give them the promise of salvation that you and I have.
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- Think about what you and I have. I'll just say this quickly. I hope this gives us a spiritual motivation.
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- What do you have in Jesus? Righteousness? Peace? A relationship with God?
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- How is your week? Sometimes life gets just awful, doesn't it?
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- Like, day by day, you have this great spiritual high one day, and then just a day is just so awful and so broken.
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- Days of great relationships and peace, and days of great tragedy and difficulty. Days of unity, days of betrayal, days where you feel like joy in God that can't be overcome.
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- And then the next day, you're just plagued with loneliness and depression and despair, anxieties, fears.
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- All image bearers of God feel that in a fallen world. It's part and parcel of being part of a fallen world.
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- Things are not the way they ought to be. But what do you have as a child of God? What do you have as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus?
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- What do you have? The knowledge that God loves me, the knowledge that He's my
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- Father, the knowledge that nothing's left, the knowledge that, listen, my
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- God isn't dependent upon my works, my consistency, my obedience for His love for me.
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- God loves me today because I'm in Jesus. He's my
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- Father. That's never going to change. I'm saved by His grace. He counts me righteous.
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- Even in my daily failing and even my sin, my Father loves me.
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- And I'm righteous in His eyes, not because I am personally, but because I'm in Jesus Christ.
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- And His love for me doesn't waver. It doesn't change. His commitment to me is for eternity.
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- He says He'll never lose me. He'll never forsake me. I am hiding in Jesus Christ. I have a righteousness that is foreign.
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- It is not my own. He loves me. I have the hope of eternal life. That's what you and I have as a child of God.
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- My relationship with my Heavenly Father is not dependent upon my performance. It's dependent on Christ's performance and His work on my behalf.
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- He loves me, and He always will. That's His promise. That's what you and I have, amen?
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- Do you have that? Yes? Isn't that what you cling to every day? Isn't that what you cling to?
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- He loves me. He says He'll never lose me. He loves me. He says He'll never forsake me. I am held by His gracious, loving hands.
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- That's what you and I have as believers. Ready? They don't have that. They don't know it.
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- They haven't tasted it. They haven't heard it. They believe in a false gospel that is a gospel of slavery and debt.
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- And we have the message of life that saves. So people ask, well, why do you go after Mormons?
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- People say all the time, why do you guys always pick on Mormons? Here's why. Because I love them. And I want them to know the same
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- Savior that I do. And I've seen God save so many Latter -day Saints and bring them into a knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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- And their lives totally transformed. And it's worth your whole life to see that happen. It is worth your entire life.
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- So that's why we go. So I want to challenge you today with the things that you're going to hear out there, things you need to be prepared for as a believer to answer from the scriptures, wrapped up in the gospel.
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- So let's get started. You guys ready? Yes? So I'm coming out. Don't get nervous.
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- So what can't happen in our evangelistic efforts, as much as it's true, is we can't lean on our own testimony.
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- So for example, I see some of your faces. I know your stories. Some of you in this room, I got to preach the gospel to.
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- I've watched God save you before my very eyes. I baptized you. I know your stories, and they're incredible.
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- Some of you guys have incredible testimonies. And God gave me the grace to be able to watch some of you guys walk through that.
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- So I know your stories. Some of you guys have had amazing experiences with Christ, where he's redeemed you, and transformed you, and saved your whole life.
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- You are a truly new creation, and it's obvious. Some of you guys have testimonies that would dwarf the common
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- Mormon testimony, but you can't lean on your own testimony and what God has done in your life. Why?
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- Because your experience and my experience is not the standard of truth. Right?
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- What is the truth? Jesus said it. God's word,
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- Jesus said, John 17, he said, Father, sanctify them by your truth.
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- Thy word is truth. Your word is truth. God's revelation is what is the truth. And so the challenge is, when you go to the
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- Mormon temple, I've seen Christians go to the temple before. They go out there, they're passionate, they're zealous.
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- They have great intentions. And then I've seen them get into the conflict where it's the Mormon bearing their testimony, and then the
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- Christian is bearing their testimony right back. And then where do you go from there? Because we can actually invite a bunch of different religious groups out on that sidewalk.
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- You can have the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses. You can have the Christian. You can have the Jewish person.
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- You can have the guy from the Branch Davidians come out and all bear testimony. This is what's happened to me.
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- As a matter of fact, if you go to the average AA meeting, meet up and group on a
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- Tuesday night at your local church or community center, you'll hear for two hours dozens of people bearing their testimony about how
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- Dr. Bob saved their life and how the 12 Steps saved their life. So they got their testimonies too. And you'll hear in those rooms testimonies like, you know,
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- I just knew I needed to yield to a higher power, so I chose electricity. There's an energy field in the universe, and that's what saved me.
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- And that's what kept me from using. And I have been free from alcohol addiction for the last 10 years because my higher power is the doorknob.
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- And that's their testimony. So you can't have a conflict of testimonies. And here's the challenge. When you go to the
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- Mormon temple or you talk to your Mormon friends or to the Mormon missionary that comes to your door, you're going to say, why do you believe
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- Joseph Smith's a prophet? And they're going to say, I prayed about the Book of Mormon, I prayed about Joseph Smith, and I got a burning in my bosom.
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- Now, let's start with that because that's the common. That's what they're trained to do, lean on their testimony.
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- And so they say to you, I've prayed about the Book of Mormon. I know that it's true. I prayed and I had experience with the
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- Holy Spirit of God. He testified to me that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith's a true prophet of God. And the
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- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints is the one true church on the face of the earth. That's what they're going to say. What would you say back?
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- Now, by the way, we've got a runner with a microphone today because last year, last time,
- 28:19
- I threw the entire team off. I did not tell them we were doing this and they were not happy. So we have a runner with a microphone.
- 28:25
- I'd like you to just keep it brief because we have a lot to do today. Don't take this opportunity to really preach. I want you to answer that challenge.
- 28:31
- I've prayed about the Book of Mormon. I've received a testimony that it's the truth of God. What would you say?
- 28:38
- Your feelings are not the arbiter of truth. Okay. The heart is deceitful above all things.
- 28:45
- It is desperately wicked. Who can understand it? That's the right response, right?
- 28:50
- It's the Word of God. So then David. Jeremiah 17, 9. Okay, quote that for everyone.
- 28:56
- The heart is deceitful above all things. It is desperately wicked. Who can understand it? That's right. So I want to point something out here.
- 29:06
- I gave you guys last week a recommendation for witnessing to Mormons is this book,
- 29:12
- Where Does It Say That? It's photocopies of history of the church, journal of discourses,
- 29:18
- Mormon documents. And when they'll say like, our church doesn't teach that, where does it say that?
- 29:24
- You're like, well, here it is. And you can show them photocopies of the actual pages of their church works and where it's at.
- 29:31
- The next resource I want to encourage you to get, and we've mentioned it before, was put together by Pastor James. And it's the 100
- 29:37
- Verse for Witnessing to Mormons. 100 Verses for Witnessing to Mormons. This is an incredible resource, an incredible resource that comes from the years of experience of Pastor James engaging with Latter -day
- 29:50
- Saints on the street and at the door. And so this is actually 54 pages.
- 29:57
- 54 pages. And it's verses for every major point of contact that you need to have with the
- 30:05
- Latter -day Saints. And so in this, just like David said, there's a section on Section 2, the
- 30:13
- Mormon Testimony. And Pastor James put in here a number of verses that you can stand on with the
- 30:21
- Word of God to engage with the Latter -day Saints. Proverbs 14, 12. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
- 30:30
- It's in King James because they accept the King James translation and it's most useful to engage with them on that.
- 30:37
- Also, second one there was Jeremiah 17, 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?
- 30:45
- So the point is, is to bring the Latter -day Saints to the Word of God. Not just to have a debate of words, your words versus their words, your testimony versus their testimony.
- 30:54
- What am I trying to do when I engage with the Latter -day Saints? I'm trying to take the Word of God and bury it in their hearts so that it can bear fruit later.
- 31:04
- That's what I'm trying to do. I can't tell you how many experiences I've had, guys, where I've spent time out there on the sidewalk with some really aggressive
- 31:10
- Latter -day Saints. You would think this guy is never coming to Christ. From a human perspective, he ain't never coming to Jesus.
- 31:17
- He's the most aggressive, he's volatile, he's angry, he's yelling. And he came back years later and said that he turned to Jesus Christ because of that one verse that I gave him that was gnawing at him.
- 31:31
- He couldn't get it out of his head, and God used that verse to bring that person to life. So what am I trying to do?
- 31:36
- I'm trying to take the Word of God and bury it in their hearts. Use Scripture.
- 31:42
- So Jeremiah 17, 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
- 31:48
- You cannot trust your heart. Well, let's have someone else. What would you say to the
- 31:55
- Latter -day Saint who bears his testimony, says that the Holy Spirit has testified to him? Yes. I'd quote 1
- 32:01
- Thessalonians 5 .21, prove all things and hold fast to what is true. Can you say that nice and loud again? I would quote 1
- 32:07
- Thessalonians 5 .21, where it says prove all things and hold fast to what is true. Very good. That's also in there in the 100 -verse memorization system on Scripture.
- 32:16
- So this is going to be a question of authority, right? So think of what they did there. They're saying, I know it's true because I had an experience.
- 32:26
- This is a fallen world. Lots of people have lots of experiences. They think lots of things are good for them that actually aren't good for them.
- 32:32
- I mean, we're living in a time where that's just screaming at us, isn't it? Where people are talking about the gender bending and perverse sexual relationships.
- 32:40
- And they'll tell you, it feels good to me. I can do it because this is how I feel on the inside.
- 32:46
- That's not the test for truth, though. That's not a source of ultimate truth and knowledge.
- 32:52
- And so this comes down to a question of authority. Who's in charge here? So the Mormon says,
- 32:57
- I'm going to lean on Joseph Smith as a prophet. I want to lean on my own testimony. So I'll be the
- 33:02
- Mormon right now. I believe Joseph Smith's a prophet of God. I follow him because I believe he's a true prophet.
- 33:09
- I have a testimony. The Holy Spirit has revealed to me that he's a true prophet of God, and this is the one true church, all right?
- 33:16
- Now come get me. Chip. One sec,
- 33:21
- Chip. We're going to make sure, because we also had people online that were saying they couldn't hear us last week.
- 33:27
- So we want to make sure to hear you. Chip? The test of a prophet that God tells us in Deuteronomy 18. So how do we know if a prophet is from God or not?
- 33:35
- And it's by if his words are true or not. So if there's one false prophecy, then he's not from God. Very good, so Chip, why is that an important verse?
- 33:44
- And why is that a unique thing in terms of the Christian faith to bring up, like false prophecies?
- 33:50
- If you have one false prophecy, you're a false prophet. Just give me some more on that. Well, I mean, there's countless faiths that all have a talking head who takes
- 34:03
- God's word and twists it in a certain way. And so we have to know how to weed through what people say to know if it's from God or not.
- 34:14
- And so Joseph Smith has multiple false prophecies, whether it's the church that he said would be built in Missouri.
- 34:28
- There's, what city was it in Missouri? Jackson County. Jackson County. By the end of a certain elder's life, the church would be built in a certain place.
- 34:38
- And that was repeated by many other elders after Joseph Smith multiple times for like 120 years afterwards.
- 34:46
- It never happened. The temple. The temple, right. That's the most clear evidence of a false prophecy.
- 34:54
- And he said that these are words from God. This will be built at this specific spot.
- 34:59
- Before they all died. Right. And so what Chip is bringing up is something that's unique to the Christian faith.
- 35:05
- And this is, by the way, one of the most amazing things about the Christian faith is that God claims in His word that He is the sovereign.
- 35:11
- He controls all things. He's the true and living God. And He actually mocks in Isaiah chapter 40 through 46.
- 35:19
- Isaiah 40 through 46 where God mocks the idols of men and the false gods of men because their gods don't do a lot of talking, first of all.
- 35:28
- Right, they can't see. They can't hear. They're dumb. They're mute. They just get built by the stuff that God made.
- 35:34
- You put it up there and it doesn't move. God mocks the idols of men. And then He challenges the idol makers and those who worship idols.
- 35:42
- He says, have your gods tell you the future. They can't do it because they don't do a lot of talking and they control nothing.
- 35:48
- It's a mockery of false gods. They can't control anything. They're not the true God who sustains the entire universe and controls history.
- 35:56
- And He says, tell your gods to tell you the past and why it actually happened. God can tell you not only history, but why history is unfolding the way that it has.
- 36:06
- And so one of the tests of a prophet in scripture, like Chip says, is Deuteronomy 18, 20 through 22.
- 36:13
- If you shall say in your heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When the prophet speaks in the name of the
- 36:20
- Lord and the thing follows not, nor comes to pass, that is the word which the
- 36:25
- Lord hath not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. That's Deuteronomy 18.
- 36:32
- Early on in the life of Israel, God tells them how to know if someone's truly a prophet.
- 36:37
- And just think about what that means. According to God's own revelation, He's the true and living
- 36:43
- God who sustains the universe and controls history. He declares the end from the beginning. He's the sovereign.
- 36:48
- Every detail of this universe is a detail in God's hands. God either says yes or He says no.
- 36:55
- He holds men back, and He controls all things. And one of the tests that God gives
- 37:00
- Israel is this. False prophecy is the indication that you are not talking for the true and living
- 37:06
- God. Which means this revelation, spanning almost 2 ,000 years of composition, depending on when you date
- 37:15
- Job and some other details, with all these different authors in all these different geographical locations over all this time that is chocked full of prophecy, you find one false prophecy in this entire revelation.
- 37:33
- And according to God's own standard, what's that mean? It's not true. That's a pretty bold claim.
- 37:40
- That's a pretty bold claim. And that is what the Christian church stands on. God's the sovereign. He controls history.
- 37:46
- This book is filled with prophecy in its perfect prophetic fulfillment. Chip brings up a great example.
- 37:52
- Deuteronomy chapter 18, the test of a prophet is this. You fail one time, you are not from God, period.
- 37:58
- That's it. Zero fail rate in order to be a prophet from God. Joseph Smith had many false prophecies.
- 38:05
- Brigham Young had false prophecies. The Mormon church is filled, their history is filled with false prophecies.
- 38:11
- Let me give you one. This was Joseph Smith, History of the
- 38:18
- Church, volume 2, page 182, February 14, 1835. President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called because God had commanded it.
- 38:29
- So this isn't coming from himself. This is something God did. God's involved in this. God called it.
- 38:34
- And it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit. So any attempt to say that these are just Joseph's words, he made a mistake, he's just a mere man, that's not what the prophet of the
- 38:47
- Mormon church said. He said, God called the meeting, and the Holy Spirit of God gave me this.
- 38:53
- And he says in 1835, February 14, he says this. That the saints were to go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the
- 39:03
- Lord, which was near, even 56 years should wind up on the scene.
- 39:10
- 1835 plus 56, I think we've passed that threshold, haven't we?
- 39:16
- Joseph Smith taught that Christ was returning in that generation before they all died.
- 39:21
- And if we have any question about whether that's true, just consider, brothers and sisters, what's the name of the
- 39:27
- Mormon church? The Church of Jesus Christ of what? What's that mean?
- 39:34
- What's it mean? Last days. Latter days, last days saints. They believed that they were at the culmination point of human history.
- 39:42
- And I'll give you another example. This isn't a one -off, it happened throughout those early stages of Mormonism.
- 39:48
- This is from John Whitmer, History of the Church, Volume 1, page 176, June 1831.
- 39:55
- And this was during a meeting. And it says, after he had prophesied, he laid his hands upon Lyman White and ordained him to the high priesthood, ordained him as a high priest.
- 40:05
- And after the holy order of God and the Spirit fell upon Lyman, and he prophesied in his presence concerning the coming of Christ, he said that there were some in the congregation that should live until the
- 40:18
- Savior should descend from heaven with a shout, with all the holy angels with him. And as you go on here, it was going to be like the sun covering the entire earth.
- 40:27
- No one was going to be safe from this thing. If you read in History of the Church, Volume 1, page 323,
- 40:34
- January 23rd, Joseph says that among the number, my father presented himself. But before I washed his feet,
- 40:40
- I asked him of a father's blessing, which he granted by laying his hands upon my head in the name of Jesus Christ and declaring that I should continue in the priest's office until Christ comes.
- 40:50
- Joseph Smith was murdered. He didn't even actually finish his work. He was in the middle of translating.
- 40:56
- He was in the middle of new revelation. And he was murdered. And it's true, you need to admit that.
- 41:01
- He's a false prophet, but he was murdered, kind of like Waco. Sorry, I guess you're hearing my opinion on that.
- 41:08
- False prophet, but he was murdered. And he didn't actually finish his work. He said that nobody was going to be able to take his life until his work was done.
- 41:17
- And he was killed unexpectedly. And he actually was murdered in jail. Joseph Smith taught that he was going to be in the priest's office until Christ returned, that Christ was returning in that generation.
- 41:26
- And as Chip said, that they were going to build a temple in Jackson County, Missouri before they had all died. Joseph Smith's a false prophet.
- 41:33
- He's a false prophet. Now, again, it's a question of authority. I tell you as a Latter -day Saint, I believe
- 41:38
- Joseph Smith's a prophet of God. I've received a testimony. You need to come against that with something other than your own testimony.
- 41:45
- So how is the Latter -day Saint supposed to actually test what is true?
- 41:51
- Chip gives one example of Deuteronomy 18. False prophecy makes you a false prophet. What's another one?
- 41:57
- Giovanni. I think Giovanni has his hand up back there. Now, Joseph Smith was never consistent throughout his life as to his theology proper.
- 42:11
- So he was changing very much throughout the course of the developments of Revelation.
- 42:16
- He used to be modalist. But now, towards the end of his life, he developed this theology of multiple gods.
- 42:25
- So what we can do to take the Mormon to the Scriptures is the same book,
- 42:32
- Deuteronomy chapter 13, where it says, if a prophet or 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, you shall not listen to the words of the prophet or that dreamer of dreams.
- 42:56
- For Yahweh, your God, is testing you to know whether you love the
- 43:04
- Lord with all your soul. Now, even if this dreamer of dreams, even if this prophet,
- 43:13
- Joseph Smith, comes with signs that are absolutely marvelous and miraculous, but he wants you to go worship other gods, three distinct beings, three distinct persons that are supposedly the gods of this earth, that is not taught in the
- 43:31
- Scriptures. The Scriptures teach the one being of God, Yahweh, shared by three persons, the
- 43:36
- Trinity. Very good. So this is the next test. Think about what that means.
- 43:41
- And by the way, like I said, this goes beyond the conflict with the Latter -day Saints. This is something that you see in Scripture from the very beginning.
- 43:50
- Where does this conflict first begin in terms of the standard, the reference point?
- 43:57
- How do I know? It starts in the garden. It starts in the garden where God makes a claim. He says, you can do this, but not that.
- 44:04
- The day you do, you'll die. Then another voice comes into the garden. What's the voice say? Hath God said?
- 44:11
- Did God really say? He says, you will not die. He says, you'll be like God, knowing good and evil.
- 44:17
- In other words, determining it for yourself. And so Adam and Eve, they put it to the test, didn't they? And who was right?
- 44:24
- What ought Adam and Eve to have done that day, philosophically and morally? When the deceiver's voice comes in, when the temptation comes in, what should they have done?
- 44:34
- Should they have tested it, philosophically, logically? Should they have said, well, let me see.
- 44:39
- Let's give it a little bit of empiricism, and let's see if it actually stands the test. What should they have done?
- 44:45
- They should have listened to God's voice. On what basis? The self -attesting, authoritative word of God.
- 44:53
- God spoke. That's how I know. That's my certainty. They should have stood on His word, and His word alone.
- 45:00
- So from the very beginning, it's God's revelation that has primacy. It's the starting point.
- 45:06
- And as you move into what Giovanni's pointing to in Deuteronomy 13, what was the test for the people of God?
- 45:11
- What did God say? He said to them, if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams comes, and he has signs and wonders.
- 45:19
- Did you know that early on in Mormon history, they were making claims of miracles with Joseph Smith and the early
- 45:24
- Mormons? Did you know that? I mean, you know the easy one, is Joseph Smith had the miraculous ability to decipher golden plates and reformed
- 45:33
- Egyptian hieroglyphics, a language that did not exist in history, right? He had this gift of a seer and a prophet, and they claimed miracles early on in Mormonism.
- 45:43
- But God says this, even if there are signs and wonders, what is it? If he leads you after other gods, gods which you have not known, that's how you know he's a false prophet.
- 45:55
- So what's that say in principle, everybody? What's it say? God has revealed himself. If somebody comes along and contradicts
- 46:03
- God's voice that has been given previously, that's how you know they're a false prophet. So we test
- 46:09
- Joseph Smith's claims by the previous revelation of God. Mormons will agree with you that the
- 46:17
- New Testament came before Joseph Smith. And so the previous revelation says something about God.
- 46:24
- And Giovanni brought up a good point. Joseph Smith's theology changed from 1830 till 1844.
- 46:31
- It was in flux. You have moments, like I said last week, where you've got answers like there are two personages in the
- 46:37
- Godhead. Not three, two. You have Joseph Smith going from modalism to teaching that Jesus was created to polytheism, all the rest.
- 46:49
- How do you challenge it? I'm a Latter -day Saint and I say to you, okay, fine, I invite you. Show me how
- 46:55
- Joseph Smith's a false prophet. Give me a verse. How would you do it?
- 47:06
- Anyone? Uh -oh. Anyone? How would you do it? We'll get a runner.
- 47:14
- Let's wait for the microphone. You look so handsome today. Look how dressed up you are today. You look like you're going to a wedding.
- 47:19
- Are you getting married? Daniel 2, verse 8.
- 47:33
- Oh, Daniel 2, verse 10. So, the
- 47:39
- Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
- 47:52
- The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not within flesh.
- 48:02
- Because of this, the king was angry and very furious and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
- 48:13
- So, the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, and they sought
- 48:18
- Daniel and his companions to kill them. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the men of Babylon.
- 48:32
- He declared to Ariok, the king's captain, Why is the decree of the king so urgent?
- 48:43
- So, my point is, like, they weren't able to interpret his dream because they didn't have the right way to interpret it.
- 48:54
- Plus, the gods were fake. So fake, they couldn't even speak a word.
- 49:00
- So, like, a prophet battle? Yeah, conflict between God's prophets and... Good, good.
- 49:06
- All right, so, ready? Joseph Smith said this. Many men say there's only one God. I say that's a strange God anyhow.
- 49:12
- Three in one, one in three, it's a curious organization. All would be crammed into one God according to sectarianism.
- 49:17
- He'd be a wonderfully big God. He'd be a giant or a monster. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when
- 49:24
- I have preached on the subject of the deity, it has been on the plurality of gods. All right, there's
- 49:32
- Joseph's revelation. Giovanni says, Deuteronomy 13 says, that if you lead people after a different god, you're a false prophet.
- 49:39
- I just gave you the words of Joseph Smith. What's Joseph Smith say?
- 49:45
- You've got to learn to become gods yourselves the same way all gods have done before you. Now, whatever, we've got
- 49:52
- Jeremy over here. Jeremy, hand up again, Jeremy. Now, whatever differences exist right now, listen, this is very important.
- 50:00
- Between Latter -day Saints, you've got a whole LGBT situation happening within Mormonism in Salt Lake right now.
- 50:07
- You've got different sects and splinter groups of Mormonism happening right now. People going back to polygamy and all the rest.
- 50:14
- That's all happening. Mormonism is in flux right now for sure, but you will see a consistent thread through Mormonism, and that is exaltation, the belief that you can become a god or goddess of your own planet one day.
- 50:26
- So, Joseph says that about God. Jeremy, what would you say? I'm the first, I'm the last.
- 50:31
- Besides me, there is no God, Isaiah 44 .6. Isaiah 44 .6, I'm the first, I'm the last.
- 50:38
- Besides me, there is no God. So, the Word of God says he's the first, he's the last. Besides him, there is no
- 50:44
- God. Question, in Joseph Smith's theology, is the God, even Elohim of this earth, the first?
- 50:52
- Is he the last? After him is Jesus, right? And then you've got the Holy Spirit somewhere in there.
- 50:58
- And then you've also got the fact that you've got to learn to become gods yourselves the same way all gods have done before you. The God of Joseph Smith was never the first, nor was he the last.
- 51:08
- Thank you, Jeremy. Any more? I'm giving you Joseph's theology. He says you've got to become a god one day. Here, then, is eternal life.
- 51:16
- To know the only wise and true God. And you've got to learn to become gods yourselves the same way all gods have done before you.
- 51:23
- In the beginning, the head of the gods called the council of the gods. And they came together and concocted and prepared a plan to create the world and to people it.
- 51:31
- There's Joseph Smith. Yuck. Right? That's what he said. OK, we had a hand up, right?
- 51:39
- Let's, we had, did you have a hand up? Yeah, OK, let's wait for the mic. So Isaiah 43 .10,
- 51:48
- before me, no god was formed, nor shall there be after me. Verse 11 goes on,
- 51:53
- I am the Lord, and beside me, there is no savior. OK, before me, no god formed.
- 52:00
- Can a Mormon believe that? No, neither shall there be after me. Can a Mormon believe that? OK, give me some more.
- 52:08
- What's another one? There's only one god we're fighting for right now. Let's go here, and we'll go over there.
- 52:16
- In addressing the claim that that god is a strange god because it's three in one, I would bring up John 1 .14.
- 52:22
- The word became flesh among us and is dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only
- 52:27
- Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Very good, OK. All right, let's do one more over here, and then
- 52:33
- I'm going to challenge you guys with something else, because we're on the subject of God and the Trinity. So I'm going to give you a challenge that you're going to hear from them.
- 52:45
- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to be seen, whatever they are from God.
- 52:54
- For many false prophets have gone out into the word. By this you know the spirit of every spirit that confesses
- 53:10
- Jesus Christ has come in the flesh from God.
- 53:18
- That was dealing early on with the early beginnings of Gnosticism, denying that Christ had come in the flesh.
- 53:25
- And so the standard was, of course, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God's word. The Gnostics were denying that.
- 53:31
- They were saying that Jesus didn't actually take on flesh, because God would never take on flesh, because it's tainted.
- 53:37
- The world is sinful. It's not good to control all those things. OK, let's do this. Ready? You Christians are totally confused.
- 53:46
- You say that Jesus is God. Is that right? Is he God? OK, then explain this one.
- 53:55
- What's Jesus doing if he's God talking to himself?
- 54:01
- So in the baptism, you've got a voice speaking from heaven. this is my beloved son and then you have another moment where they're on the mountain and there's a voice that comes from heaven and says this is my beloved son hear him so you've got a baptism situation and the transfiguration where Jesus is like what
- 54:22
- I guess tricking us he's throwing his voice he's a ventriloquist is that what's going on you got to be prepared to deal with that because we're saying there's only one
- 54:33
- God infinite eternal from all eternity into all eternity one being of God who eternally exists as three distinct persons the
- 54:43
- Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and they're gonna say when you say Jesus is God there's only one
- 54:49
- God they're gonna say is Jesus throwing his voice is that what's going on there drew
- 54:55
- I was hoping you put your hand up drew you just confused drew well the question assumes modalism so what's modalism modalism is the belief that God has different masks and he puts different ones on at different points in time so like in the
- 55:20
- Old Testament he was the father and then he becomes the son but there's never the father existing distinctly from the son or the son existing distinctly from the father and the spirit but rather just one person and one being of God that shifts his appearance at different points in time so so so modalism believes there's one being of God one person right
- 55:44
- Unitarian yeah you one person yeah so to have something like the baptism of Jesus to where there is the
- 55:52
- Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit all there at the same time but to assume modalism in that would mean that God is basically deceiving everyone who's there you know yeah let's make it worse okay it's worse it's worse not only do you have the father speaking to the son but you've got the son speaking to the father and this is something that happens in both
- 56:19
- Testaments what is Psalm chapter 2 say Psalm chapter 2 the father says to the son what ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance the very ends of the earth for your possession so in the
- 56:34
- Old Testament you've got the father speaking to the son ask of me I'll give you the nations for your inheritance in the
- 56:41
- New Testament you've got the father speaking from heaven this is my beloved son the son of my love hear him you've got
- 56:49
- Jesus talking to the father just read John 17 Jesus talking to the father in his high priestly prayer but it gets worse you'll have instances where Jesus is calling the father
- 57:04
- God and that really throws people off they're like well if Jesus is God why is he calling the father God because there's something called the incarnation where the second person in the
- 57:12
- Trinity the one who's existed John 1 1 from all eternity with the father takes on flesh and he humbles himself so yes
- 57:22
- Jesus calls the father God does that bother you how would you expect the perfect servant of God how would you expect the perfect image of God how would you expect the perfect Israelite with his father there's only one
- 57:42
- God eternally existent in three distinct persons and so yes Jesus calls the father
- 57:47
- God but it gets worse it gets worse go to your Bibles quickly to Hebrews chapter 1
- 57:58
- Hebrews great great book not just a great name for a
- 58:05
- Christian coffee shop it's a great do you like that one is that good yeah good
- 58:15
- Daniel comes to church every Sunday dresses a different character just check him out this
- 58:22
- Sunday almost made it through I couldn't help it because she laughed she drew attention back to you you do look good today though man you look sharp okay so Sam will say well wait how how is
- 58:38
- Jesus God if he's calling the father God the answer is there's only one true and living God there's only one
- 58:44
- God and yet the father is God the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God someone says that is crazy and amazing and complex and I don't understand it
- 58:52
- I say to that I hope so because you're the creature he's the creator I hope that there are mysteries about the
- 58:58
- Creator that we as creatures go that is above my comprehension you know what's common amongst man -made religions what's common is their gods look just like us right
- 59:09
- I understand the God of Mormonism do you get him I get the God of Mormonism I fully understand him he was once a man on an earth just like this he was a sinner he needed redemption he progressed he had sexual relationships he has wives he produces children
- 59:24
- I go I get him I get him that's just like us he's human like us right he becomes a
- 59:29
- God one day so I understand that are we surprised that the actual God the true and living
- 59:35
- God has attributes and aspects that blow our minds as creatures like how do you think ants think when they look at you right yeah they're just doing their thing they're like wow
- 59:47
- I don't get it like you know there's stuff that I don't get about that right there right there's a certain point like my friend says we're like you're at the blackboard trying to explain geometry or calculus to a room full of cockroaches and at a certain point their creatureliness breaks down right they don't get it why because the kind of creature that they are so Jesus calls the
- 01:00:15
- Father God of course but the Father also calls the Son God if you read
- 01:00:21
- Hebrews chapter 1 in verse 5 it says for to which of the angels did
- 01:00:28
- God ever say you are my son today I have begotten you or again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son clearly who's in view here who's speaking this the father that's the father that's the context and again when he brings the firstborn into the world he says let all
- 01:00:47
- God's angels worship him wait wait wait who alone is worthy of worship according to scripture so what's happening here who's
- 01:01:02
- Jesus let all the angels of God worship Jesus what does the angel do to the
- 01:01:10
- Apostle John when he is absolutely mesmerized in the book of Revelation there's a moment where he's completely mesmerized and freaked out by an angel and John in the book of Revelation falls down to worship the angel what's the angel say get up cuz
- 01:01:29
- Mickey love numbers no I'm sorry I'm I'm just thinking get up why I'm a servant just like you he says worship
- 01:01:39
- God the angels know that you only worship
- 01:01:46
- God and in here the angels are being commanded to worship
- 01:01:51
- Jesus Christ but it gets worse of the angels he says he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire but of the
- 01:02:00
- Sun he says are you ready who's speaking here the father but of the
- 01:02:07
- Sun he says your throne Oh God is forever and ever the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness therefore
- 01:02:19
- God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions
- 01:02:24
- Wow talk about just shouting the doctrine of the
- 01:02:31
- Trinity right here the father is saying angels worship the Sun and it says here the father says to the
- 01:02:39
- Sun your throne Oh God is forever and ever so is it a problem that Jesus calls the
- 01:02:44
- Father God no there's only one God she's the second person in the Trinity it gets worse the father calls the Sun God right and of course there's communication between the father and the son because there's an eternal relationship between the father and the son if you don't know
- 01:02:58
- John chapter 1 verse 1 through 18 if you don't have that buried in your heart brothers and sisters get it there let's try it
- 01:03:05
- John 1 1 in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the
- 01:03:11
- Word was God now that one verse three parts a
- 01:03:18
- B and C the one verse there in John chapter 1 is absolutely incredible it says that the word
- 01:03:26
- Jesus an arcane halagos he was all the way back forever ago as far back as you want to go with no stopping point he was already there
- 01:03:37
- Jesus existed from all eternity and he was with God pro stone they own he was with God so forever ago
- 01:03:48
- Jesus was already there and he was with the father in intimate relationship with the father and what
- 01:03:55
- God was the Word was and it says the same was in the beginning with God all things were created through Jesus so the question to ask your
- 01:04:03
- Mormon friends is is Jesus Lucifer's brother yes is
- 01:04:08
- Jesus a created a thing yes John 1 says that Jesus created all things including
- 01:04:15
- Lucifer how's he also his brother and then the glory of John 1 is that God the second person of the
- 01:04:23
- Trinity who existed for all eternity with the father it says and God became flesh the word became flesh and he tabernacled among us and we beheld his glory you see
- 01:04:36
- John chapter 1 verses 1 through 18 by itself is enough to demolish the entire theological system of Mormonism it can't sustain it all right
- 01:04:48
- I'd love to keep going but some of you guys need to eat so let me just do one more one more quickly why do you believe the
- 01:05:03
- Bible now I've preached sermons on up here for hours and hours and hours on this point we've tried to model for you what it means to defend this truth in the public square in public debates but let me just challenge you and just maybe get two of you to try to answer this why do you believe the
- 01:05:23
- Bible let's go ahead and uh let's have okay Christine's closer let's have
- 01:05:28
- Christine why do you believe the Bible I believe the Bible because it's a reliable document it's a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses and they report specific prophecies by God that are supernatural in nature and not by the origin of man good good let's go let's do okay we'll do you why do you believe the
- 01:06:01
- Bible 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 all scripture is interpreted by God and profitable for teaching for a proof for correction and for training and righteousness good that tells you the nature of scripture it's breathed out by God it's
- 01:06:28
- God's Word Jesus believed it was the Word of God he rose again from the dead okay okay let's do hey by the way
- 01:06:39
- I saw you yesterday at c2 you didn't say hi you were you were teaching a class or something and you just totally ignored me no the
- 01:06:49
- Bible evidences its truth through the heavenliness of its doctrine and the unity of its parts but only the
- 01:06:58
- Spirit of God can make man willing to submit to the truth so in order for someone to fully accept scripture according to our confession of faith it has to be a work of the
- 01:07:09
- Spirit of God right that's good okay so he's quoting our confession of faith only scripture is going to open someone's eyes to that truth but say someone is on the streets maybe they're the eight the
- 01:07:19
- Mormon leaning towards atheism and they're saying to you why do you believe the
- 01:07:25
- Bible is God's Word here's what I would say okay hold on Darryl okay let's do
- 01:07:32
- Darryl okay no no I want to hear you Darryl well
- 01:07:42
- I would say I believe the Bible because Jesus believed the Bible he quoted the Bible over and over and when he was tempted in the wilderness he said you know man should not live on bread alone but out of every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God yeah very good now push it back just a step because it's it's good we're landing on Jesus but then you have to get back a step don't you because someone then says to you okay you believe the
- 01:08:07
- Bible because Jesus believed it was the Word of God you're you're staying with Jesus but then challenge goes push it back one more step because this is a question of authority why do you believe
- 01:08:15
- Jesus is who we claim to be and the answer to that if you push it back Christians what are you gonna say because the
- 01:08:20
- Bible prophesies about Jesus Christ all his words in accordance with the Word of God hey we're getting back to a little circle here aren't we it's all landing on the
- 01:08:27
- Word of God and guess what that's not a problem why because every ultimate if it is truly ultimate will not go beyond itself to prove itself that's the nature of an ultimate it will go back to itself and if is truly the ultimate so what
- 01:08:44
- I would say if somebody says I'll just say quickly if someone says why do you believe the Bible is the Word of God I would say because apart from it
- 01:08:50
- I can't believe anything because apart from the Word of God as the foundation or reference point
- 01:08:55
- I can't believe anything coherently you reject the revelation of God you have to abandon science you've got to abandon logical coherence you've got to abandon beauty you've got to abandon truth you got to abandon goodness you got to abandon ethics you know why because apart from God's Word if you reject it you become a fool that's the claim of Scripture what's it saying the fool says in his heart there is no
- 01:09:20
- God so someone denies God denies his revelation they become a fool morally intellectually they can't prove anything apart from God's revelation you can't prove anything what do you need to prove things you've got to have human dignity you've got to have logic you've got to have morality you've got to have an orderly universe try and get those things without God God sustains the universe that's why
- 01:09:45
- Christians are so big on science why do we believe we can predict the future based upon past experience because in Scripture we have
- 01:09:52
- God saying he's a sovereign he carries the universe along to its intended destination great let's do some experiments right because God's the sovereign we can do science we believe that we have to be consistent and logical as Christians why because our thinking is supposed to be a reflection of the way that God thinks
- 01:10:08
- God cannot lie God can't engage in logical contradictions God's the reference point our order our thinking is supposed to be ordered like God's do you see if you if you if you deny
- 01:10:19
- God's revelation you can't prove anything you can't know anything if you deny God's revelation you become a fool you become an absolute fool and so I would
- 01:10:28
- I would say that as a start by the way I gave a sermon on this a while back why we believe the Bible is God's Word go check that out
- 01:10:34
- I hope it blesses you guys but is this challenging you guys at all yes is this helping you at all does it make you want to know how how and why you should defend your faith okay quick thing would be a big blessing to all of you the next challenge we can't do today is they're gonna tell you the
- 01:10:51
- Bible's corrupted they're gonna tell you can't trust the Bible it's been translated and retranslated and mistranslated and passed through a different translations the person who says that to you has no idea what they're talking about okay so if you don't know where you get your
- 01:11:05
- Bible from you need to know not just for the Mormon but for the skeptic and the atheist who will attack your faith today it is actually one of the most amazing things about our faith the transmission of the text of the
- 01:11:17
- Bible so I'm going to recommend a book to you guys just so you know where we got our Bibles from and that is the King James only controversy written by dr.
- 01:11:24
- white it's a used been used in seminaries really around the world King James only controversy is not just about the
- 01:11:31
- King James Bible is teaching you where we got our Bibles from and so if you don't know you need to know let's pray together father we pray
- 01:11:38
- Lord that what we've done here would be useful to you to your kingdom that you would bless it that we would be effective ministers of grace in your hands to the
- 01:11:51
- Mormon community we praise you use us fill us with humble boldness fill us with your word and let your word come out of us to the