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| WILLIAM WROTE:
Question-Comment: My comment is about Joseph Smith and the Morman Conglomerent. DON WROTE: Hello William, Thanks for taking the time to WRAP with us. If you've read many of our WRAP AROUNDS, then you are aware that we see only two religions in the world: i.e., the religion ordained of God--which is one--and the religion ordained of man--which includes all of the rest. Consequently, we see Mormonism as only one of the many religions that serve confusion. (For more on our stance concerning the religions in the world, see our WRAP with Tjarko in our "APRIL-#2-2004 WRAP AROUNDS".) To explain where I come from concerning religion, I need to share some things that happened to me when I was called to preach. Early on in life, I had seen things in religious people that turned me away from the church world; and I used this as my excuse to have nothing to do with the church or God. However, although I had given up on God, he had not given up on me--nor had several Christians that were praying for me. When I was twenty-six, God was able to use some things in my life to convict me of my sin and then point me to Jesus and the love that took Him to the Cross. All of this took place outside of any church. True, I finally went to a local church and walked the aisle to profess Christ as my Lord and Savior as I had seen people do as a lad, but I have no idea what the preacher preached. I had already made up my mind to give my life to Christ before I entered the church, and I couldn't wait for the preacher to hush and give the altar call so I could surrender my life to God. On this Sunday, God forgave me my sin and filled me with His blessed Holy Spirit. On the following Sunday, I went to the same church; and during the altar call, God again filled me with His Spirit and power, and called me to preach. Now, I had a dilemma. To my way of thinking at the time, when people were called to preach, they went to a seminary and prepared themselves. I knew I was called to preach, but I had no particular ties to any church; so I asked God to show me what seminary to attend. He then dropped into my spirit that if I would forget everything that I thought I knew about the Bible and give myself to Bible study, that He would be my seminary. Although later on in life I would go to a seminary, it was during the first four years of my walk with Christ that I devoted myself to the Word of God; and with the Holy Spirit as my teacher, the Word of God truly became sweeter than honey to my soul. It was also during these first four years that I had to deal with a problem: i.e., with all of the differing denominations and sects, each teaching that theirs was the correct way--and many of them claiming to be the only way--which church was of God? "You have not because you ask not," says the Scriptures. So, I asked and I feel that received my answer. However, it wasn't any particular denomination, but an approach to denominations, and to all things that have to do with my spiritual walk. The answer came to me as I was listening to a radio preacher. (Perk up! preachers. God does use those He calls to preach!) The minister was dealing with my question and he said that God had dropped into his spirit that he was to deal with the matter the same way that the Internal Revenue Service deals with counterfeit money. That is, the IRS does not train its agents to recognize all the bogus bills being printed, for there are so many that their minds would be bogged down with all the errors. Rather, they teach their agents to recognize the genuine article so that any currency that isn't real will become obvious. This was to be my approach to denominations. I was to study out the church as presented in the Scriptures. So, I did; and I found the church not to be an organization of people run by man, but a group of spirit-filled people who together make up the "Body of Christ." In fact, the word "denomination" means "division"; and you don't have to read the Bible for any length of time before you discern that it is NOT our Lord's will for His Church to be divided. I further discovered that the elders and pastors are not to be the head of this Church, but that Christ is the Head of His Church and that He runs His Church through the individual believers as they walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit! . With this in mind, let's give the Mormon Church the litmus test. First, the Bible is explicit that there is only ONE way to gain eternal life and enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus said:
Hence, Jesus is the "Door" to heaven and there is no other way. And we should also note that just like the door to the Ark at the time of the flood, there is no handle on men's side of this "Door." Churches and cults try to put handles of the law, of works, and of tradition on the "Door"--but they will not work. The "Door" is only opened to those who exercise their God-given faith in the finished work of Calvary. WHAT DOES THE MORMON CHURCH DO WITH THE DOOR? Second, Jesus taught that to enter into the Kingdom of God, one must be born again of the Spirit of Christ. And that for everyone who is born of the Spirit of Christ, there is no need for men to teach/indoctrinate men.
True, men and women are called to work with the Holy Spirit in this matter of teaching the Word of God, but the true instructor of the Word sets men and women free of bondage to men and traditions--teaching that the believers are to rely upon man, but upon the Holy Spirit for their understanding. HOW DOES THE MORMON CHURCH HANDLE THIS SCRIPTURE? Third, the Bible is explicit that the New Testament finalized the Word of God.
HOW DOES THE MORMON CHURCH LINE UP WITH THIS PASSAGE? We could go on, but I think I've said enough about the Mormon church. _________________________________________ I would like to add a comment about something you wrote: i.e., "On The Mount and during the Transfiguration On The Mount. The Lord reveals that Elijah and John the Baptist were the same person." The passage you were referring to is found in the 17th chapter of Matthew.
They are some sayings in the Bible that are hard to be understood and this passage qualifies. There is a verse of Scripture that applies to understanding this and other passages "hard to be understood."
We compare "spiritual things with spiritual" in the Bible by searching out all that the Scriptures have to say about a subject. If you will use a good study Bible and run down the references, I feel that you will find that Jesus was not implying that Elias (Elijah) had been reincarnated in John the Baptist, but that the two men were "the same" in that they were like-minded and they both functioned in the same Spirit of Prophecy, declaring the day of the Christ/Israel's Messiah. We desire your prayers for our ministry and our family for the days that lie ahead. Also, please don't forget to pray for our President. He is only a man and he is in a position where he can make a great mess of things unless he is led of the Lord in his decision making. Maranatha, Don |
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