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North America is under a blitz campaign by Mormon missionaries. Presenting themselves as the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" they have spent over 100 million dollars in advertisements in the last few years with spots that emphasize positive family values and the importance of spending time with your loved ones. The ads sound great, but don't be fooled: underneath that polished exterior is one of the most damnable doctrines ever invented by man. Most of their believers are very sincere and feel as if they are doing good things, but they are being deceived by their elders. In this lesson, we want to examine how the Mormon church was founded, look at some core doctrines of their church and look at scriptural answers for dealing with the errant Mormon doctrine.

In our first text, we read where Paul wrote to the Galatians and warned them to not follow or believe any other gospel than what they had first been preached. Paul said "even if we were to change our mind and suddenly preach something different about Christ, don't believe it." And then, to really drive his point home, Paul said "if an angel from heaven" were to preach any other gospel "let him be accursed." The Greek word for "accursed" there is the strongest possible word in the language. It means to be "condemned for forever" or "under the divine curse." Paul wanted the Galatians to know that if an angel from heaven came down and told us anything against what the disciples had already preached that we'd better not only NOT listen to it, but to mark whatever it said as being cursed of God. And then, as if this was a point that you absolutely better understand, Paul repeated himself in verse 9. Obviously, this was a warning that we must heed and heed well.

We begin with that text, because Mormonism began in the year 1820 with a young man named Joseph Smith Jr. supposedly being visited by "angels from heaven" that told him some interesting things. They were "interesting things" because they contradicted most of the written Word of God. Joseph Smith later wrote these "events" down for us in his own words and the story and the book -- entitled The Pearl of Great Price -- is now considered scripture by the Mormon church. As we reveal his story, keep in mind that Joseph Smith Jr. was known in his hometown region of New York state for dabbling in the occult and seer stones to seek "buried treasure."

Supposedly, one day Joseph Smith went into the woods near his home to pray and inquire of God which of all the Christian churches was "right." Here he was seized by a "dark power" that held his tongue and would not let him speak and then as he was finally yielding to this "actual being from the unseen world" he suddenly saw a light shining on him. To quote his actual words from chapter 2 of his book:

Joseph Smith asked these "Personages" which Christian church was right and they replied by telling him that "all of the Christian churches were wrong" and that their teachings were "an abomination in his sight" (Pearl, 2:19). These "Personages of light" then began to explain to Joseph Smith the "correct way to believe" so that he could start a church that was "right."

Since we know that the written Word of God is truth, we ought to immediately have warning bells going off in our spiritual being. First of all, the "gospel" or good news that these two "angels" gave Joseph Smith was nowhere near the gospel presented by Paul and the Apostles. Because of that, Paul said that they are "accursed of God." Second, Paul also warned the Corinth church of false teachers parading as "angels of light:"

Paul said "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light!" Just because someone has a supposed "spiritual experience" where they see a great light, doesn't mean that it's from God or that they are right with God. Satan, himself, doesn't come to us with chains and whips but disguises himself as a good angel. That's why we must be careful that we do not live according to "spiritual experiences" for which there is no scriptural foundation, but we must base everything on the written Word of God! The Word of God is truth! And that is why the Apostle John warned us to:

How do you test the spirits? First by seeing if they present Jesus Christ accurately. How do you know who Jesus Christ is? By who and what the scriptures say that He is. We must always go back to the written Word of God for our final definition of truth.

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Those supposed "angelic messengers" to Joseph Smith had all sorts of "new revelations" that completely go against the Word of God. Let me present a summary of what Mormon doctrine teaches, and then I'll give you some scripture to combat it.

The most important theological doctrine of the Mormons is called "the law of eternal progression." This is the center of everything that Mormonism teaches. It is stated as follows:

Think about that for a moment. They teach that our God was once a mortal man who "worked his way up" to being a God. They also teach that we too can become a god in ourselves with our own planet to rule. It gets stranger. Let me give you a quick overview of the basic story of what the Book of Mormon teaches. Here we go . . .

Mormonism teaches that there are trillions of planets scattered throughout the universe that are ruled by countless gods who once were human like us. They say that long ago on one of these planets, to an unidentified god and one of his goddess wives, a spirit child name Elohim was conceived. This spirit child was later born to human parents who gave him a physical body. Through obedience to Mormon teaching, death, and resurrection, he proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood as his father before him. Mormons believe that this Elohim is now our heavenly Father and that he lives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob. Here, he and his wives through endless celestial conjugal relations produced billions of spirit children.

To decide what to do with all of these "children," Elohim called a great heavenly council meeting. Both of Elohim's eldest sons were there, Lucifer and his brother Jesus. A plan was presented to build Earth where the spirit children could be sent to take on mortal bodies and learn good from evil. Lucifer stood and asked to be the savior of this new world. Wanting the glory for himself, he planned to force everyone to become gods. Opposing the idea, the Mormon Jesus suggested giving man his freedom of choice, as on other planets. The vote that followed approved the proposal of this "Mormon Jesus" and he became the savior of the planet Earth.

Lucifer got mad and convinced one third of the spirits destined for Earth to fight with him and revolt. Thus Lucifer and his followers became the devil and his demons. They were sent to the world in spirit form forever to be denied bodies of flesh and bone. The Mormon church teaches that those who refused to fight for either side of the cause were cursed to be born with black skin. This is their extremely racist explanation for the origins of darker skin people. The spirits that fought valiantly against Lucifer would be born into Mormon families on planet Earth. These would be the lighter-skinned people referred to by Mormons -- and I quote the book of Mormon -- "white and delightsome." Joseph Smith was obviously also extremely racially prejudice in addition to his occultist leanings.

Early Mormon prophets added to the tale of Elohim delivered by Joseph Smith. They said that Elohim and one of his wives came to Earth to start the human race. Thousands of years later Elohim once again supposedly journeyed from his star base to have physical relations with the Virgin Mary to provide Jesus with a body.

Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde taught that after Jesus Christ grew to manhood he took at least three wives: Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Supposedly, through these wives, the Mormon Jesus fathered many children before he died and from this lineage Joseph Smith descended. (Hang on, it gets even stranger . . .)

Also according to the Book of Mormon, after his resurrection, Jesus came to the Americas to preach to the Indians (what we call Native Americans), who the Mormons believe are really Israelites. The Mormon Jesus supposedly established a church in the Americas just as he had done so in Palestine. By the year A.D. 421, the dark-skinned "American Israelites" known as "Lamanites" had destroyed all of the white-skinned "Nephites" in several great battles. The Nephites' records were supposedly written on golden plates and were buried by Moroni, the last living Nephite, in the "Hill Cumorah" which just happened to be what is today New York state.

1400 years later, the young treasure seeker Joseph Smith whom we've already discussed, after a miraculous visitation by his "Personages of light," discovered these golden tablets near his home in upstate New York. The Mormons claim that this Joseph Smith was a "prophet" selected to reveal the truth of the Mormon way and he recorded all of these peculiar doctrines of the current Mormon church. Furthermore, the Mormons believe that since Jesus appeared again in the Americas, the Book of Mormon is the Bible that we should use today and the original scriptures were written to and for only the Palestine Jews in the Middle East.

Today, the Mormons teach that by maintaining a rigid code of financial and moral requirements and through performing secret temple rituals for themselves and the dead, they can prove their worthiness and become gods. They teach that everyone must one day stand at the final judgment before three people: Joseph Smith, the Mormon Jesus, and Elohim.

Those Mormons who work their way up to participating in the "eternal marriage ceremony" in the temple in Salt Lake City expect to become polygamous gods or goddess wives in the "Celestial Kingdom" and rule over other planets as Elohim supposedly does this one, and spawn new families throughout eternity. They thank God for Joseph Smith, who claimed that he had done more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ. The Mormons teach that Joseph Smith died as a martyr, shedding his blood for us so that we too may become gods. All of this that we have just stated is the core of Mormon theology and is the basis and premise for all of their beliefs!

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One of the key issues with dealing with any off beat religious group is that words and names mean different things to them than it does to you and I. Our scriptures teach that Jesus Christ was the image of the invisible God come in flesh to die on the cross, paying the price for our salvation. God became as a man, but at the same time remained as the one God Almighty that fills the universe and remained very much God Almighty. Furthermore, the scriptures teach that all of the godhead, everything that God is and was and will be is in Jesus Christ. Let me remind you of a few scriptures that teach these precious truths:

The Mormon church does not believe any of this about Jesus Christ. The Mormon Jesus is a completely different Jesus than that of the scriptures that is familiar to you and I. Here are some of the major differences. Mormon beliefs are stated in italics:

Of course, we know that there is only one God who was Father in Creation, Son in Redemption, and the Holy Spirit that lives within us and that the name of that one God has been revealed to us in Grace as Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus said that "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father" (John 14:9) and "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). When we see Jesus, we are looking at the one God of glory come in flesh to pay the price of sin by shedding His blood on the cross. Furthermore, there is one throne in heaven, and one that sits upon it (Revelation 4:2) and he that sits upon it is none other than Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. Jesus is the "express image of God's person" (Hebrews 1:3) and the only image and person of the Father that we will ever see!

Jesus Christ and Lucifer were NOT brothers in any way. Jesus Christ "created all things" (Colossians 1:16) and the devil is a fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:14) who was originally created by God. Jesus is the creator and Lucifer is a created being. They are in no way equals or brothers.

Furthermore, Jesus is "The Way" not to Mormonism but to getting things right with God! When sinful man could never approach a holy God, a holy God approached sinful man and paid the price reconciling us to "himself." Paul wrote:

Jesus said:

To get to God, you must go through the man Christ Jesus, NOT through Joseph Smith or anybody else!

Jesus did not have to "earn his salvation of god hood." He forgave sins and walked on water and performed many mighty miracles as God Almighty, long before His death! Even as a twelve year boy, He knew the scriptures better than any learned man in Israel, because He was the One who wrote them!

Furthermore, good works do not earn our salvation, but rather our salvation is a gift from God. Paul wrote:

This is why you will never see a cross or symbol emblem in a Mormon church, because they teach that the true sacrifice was in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is also the reason that they use water for communion, because the blood shed on Calvary doesn't mean anything to them. To a Mormon, Jesus is a savior only in the sense that his suffering and death gives us the ability to becoming a god ourselves through the secret keys, handgrips, and passwords learned only in the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

But the Bible says:

Jesus saved us how? By nailing our sins to the cross. By reconciling us to God through the cross. By "the blood of the cross." It's clear that it was the blood of Jesus shed at the cross that redeemed men and gives us hope of salvation!

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The best way to deal with Mormon theology is to confront their beliefs about "Elohim" and their doctrine of God. This is because the Mormons try to use the Bible to prove their errant beliefs and so we are able to respond with Bible and disprove what they say. The key points about the Mormons doctrine of God can be summed up in four basic points:

1. The Mormons teach that "God the Father" has a body of flesh and bone as tangible as a man's and that is distinct from the body of Jesus Christ.

2. The Mormons teach that God Almighty evolved from mortal man, in other words, God was a man who became "god over this planet" by earning it.

3. Mormons teach polytheism. They believe that there are literally millions of gods and that, Elohim, the god of this earth, is just one of many.

4. Mormons teach that every male Mormon can and should be trying to become a god, himself.

Listen to what Joseph Smith said about God in a sermon given in Illinois two months before his death:

The next Mormon prophet Brigham Young said this:

The Mormons still believe this. Listen to a more modern article printed in the official Mormon publication The Church News on September 1989:

These false teachings of God are very easy to disprove with scripture. Let's finish by giving some scriptural teachings that contradict that of the Mormon doctrine.

1. Our heavenly Father is Spirit and has no body of flesh and bones other than that of the physical glorified body of Jesus Christ.

In other words, God is a Spirit and except when He became visible in the flesh of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 3:16), He cannot be seen. The best possible scripture to refute this argument of the Father having a separate physical body other than that of Jesus Christ is the following scripture:

Who revealed the truth of who Jesus Christ was to Peter? Not "flesh and blood" but the "Father who is in heaven!"

2. God did not evolve from mortal man, but has always existed and created time itself.

In Romans chapter 1, Paul reveals what God thinks of the Mormon theology:

3. There is only one true God, not many, and the God of the Bible is that ONE true God!

4. Nobody can ever become or be like or equal to that true, One God.

We read as our other text that God said that there would be no other God formed:

God is very adamant about this throughout scripture:

And the Apostle Paul again summed up God's feeling toward Mormon theology:

If we obey His Gospel, live for Him, and have His Spirit within us, we will one day be "as Jesus is" in that we will also be given a glorified body to live with Him for forever, but we will never be "god almighty" or equal to Him!

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When a Mormon missionary is witnessing, they often ask their prospect to pray and ask God to reveal to them, through a burning in the bosom, whether Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Many have prayed this prayer and many have felt a 'burning sensation in their bosom" as they had asked. As we have seen, the Mormon church is far from teaching truth about God, so why are there so many documented cases of this event? The correct answer if a person felt that "burning" is that "it wasn't God who answered that prayer." The Bible says this:

The key words are "to all who call on him in truth." When the person prays that prayer, they are submitting to false teachers and they are yielding themselves to the spirits that are at work in that false teaching. Do people really feel a "burning in the bosom?" No doubt, but it is not God that is confirming such lies.

We are never instructed to pray about whether or not a prophet is true or false, but we are commanded to test him according to the Word of God. The Mormon church has never produced or published an official list of Joseph Smith's prophecies. Why? It is not because they do not have them written down, but rather because of the 65 to 70 prophecies that were recorded by Joseph Smith, only about five or six came to pass as he said it would. That's not a good record for someone who claimed to speak for the "God who cannot lie." The scriptures say this:

You do not need to pray to feel a "burning in your bosom" to decide whether or not Joseph Smith was a true prophet: his own errant prophecies prove that he was false. Neither does the Mormon churches' doctrine line up to the clear teaching of the Word of God. Remember Paul's warning: even if an angel from heaven were to come and tell you some other gospel, don't you believe it! Let's hold fast to the "faith that was once delivered to the saints!" Let's hold fast to the truth of the written Word of God!