"...A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet," (Joseph Smith, HC, vol. 6:408-409).
A few days ago I called a phone number to speak to some of my LDS missionary friends. Well, a new rotation had happened and they are now in a different location. I did get to speak to a few new missionaries that I hadn’t met so I invited them over to my home for a Bible study. So yesterday evening they stopped by the house for an hour or two. I was only expecting the usual 2 LDS to show up but I got an extra surprise…3 LDS missionaries. They knew that I had spoken to other LDS from their church in the past so they wanted to jump right into why Joseph Smith was a prophet. This is one area of the Mormon faith were I am greatly lacking so I couldn’t really say too much except to ask questions to cause them to think…Here are a few examples
1. You guys are telling me that modern-day prophets are here and that they are needed. Why? Can you show me in the Bible where it says that? In all fairness to them they did answer this question but also admitted that it takes faith to believe in God’s modern-day revelation to His prophets.
2. If a new church was going to start, not just LDS. Then why can’t we go back to what the Bible says instead of starting a whole new church or religion?
3. What evidence do you have that Joseph Smith is a prophet?
The main speaker of the group was very intelligent and articulate. He presented his arguments very well and he knew both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I was blessed to have them over because the Lord has used this to challenge me to increase my knowledge of these subjects. I did share the Gospel with them and I spoke of God’s law, judgment, and wrath. God’s word will not return void to Him so I am trusting in Him alone to change the hearts of these young men. I will be praying for them.
I just started a new Evangelism Training course called “Way of the Master” Intermediate course. At the end of the first lesson it asks you to pray that God will send someone to you who needs to hear the Gospel. Well, I did just that. No more than 30 minutes after the missionaries left I received a phone call from another LDS friend of mine. He wanted to know if he could come by the house to pick up something that I promised him. “Sure!” I said, “Come on over and hang out for awhile”.
So about 15 minutes later he pulled up on his sweet Yamaha motorcycle. He came in and we sat down on the couch as I caught the last few minutes of Deal or No Deal. My wife had to leave to go pick up our son so I knew this was my opportunity. I look at him and said, “Richard. Can I ask you an interesting question? What do you think is going to happen to you after you die? That started a wonderful 2 hour conversation about the things of God. I was able to witness to him, share Scripture with him, and to point out how Mormon doctrine contradicts the Bible.
Before he left he said to me, “I have a challenge for you Ty. In your alone time with God I want you to get down on your knees and pray and ask Him if what Joseph Smith saw was true. Will you do that for me?
I replied back to him…gently, “No, Richard. I won’t because I have Scripture that tells what Joseph Smith saw was not true. The Bible says that no man has seen the Father. The Bible says that our hearts are deceitful and wicked, and we are dead in trespasses and sins. The Bible says to study the Scriptures daily, not to rely on ourselves or our feelings. I don’t need to ask God about Joseph Smith because He has already told me everything He wants me to know in His word.”
He accepted that answer and we parted on very good terms. I’m sure we’ll hang out and go grab some dinner one night soon anyway. God did wonderful things for His own glory yesterday. Four Mormons heard the true Gospel in less than 4 hours. To God alone be the glory…
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