Is there more revelation to come?

Could the canon be opened with more revelation to be added?

That is primarily a theological question to which I can only give a theological answer.

2 Peter 1:3 - seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

This verse at the beginning of 2 Peter speaks of grace and peace being multiplied to us and knowledge of Jesus our Lord. This grace and peace is being multiplied in the fact that He has by His divine power granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Now I ask the question “Is there something missing in Scripture that is necessary for life and godliness?” Could Peter say these things if there was a lack or a deficiency that needed to be made up? But that is not all look at Jude 3

Jude 3 - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints

Once for all delivered to the saints. In fact the literal reading would be “The once for all delivered to the saints faith.” Now what is that faith? What is the content of that faith? Is there something that the scriptures don’t tell us about that faith? I don’t believe so.

Hebrews 1:1 - God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

Now the point of that being that God’s way before to speak to His people was through prophets but now a final and complete revelation has come in the person of Jesus Christ. Now you may say – What a minute! What about Paul’s writings and Peter’s writings and Hebrews coming after Jesus. That is true, but what is the content of their revelation? The content of their discussion of revelation is Jesus Christ.

If there was to be anything more it would be about Jesus Christ and Him only because He is the final revelation and nothing other than that.

I then have to ask the question “Could there be anything more than what has been revealed?” Why would God wait? This is what the Bible calls the end times and we know how swiftly God put together the New Testament. Roughly over a period of over 55 years...

Everything that has been offered as being a continuation or addition to the canon of Scripture has always failed the test that the early church utilized. Everything that man has come up with to attempt to add to the canon of Scripture has always taught something contradictory to what was already there. This includes the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and other LDS scriptures. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are guilty of the very same thing with their so called on-going revelation of God from the Watchtower and/or Governing Body.

Test Your Knowledge of the Book of Mormon

Below is a link to an online test to explore the depth of knowledge that you have in the Book of Mormon. Good luck and let me know how you do. God bless!

Joseph Smith's First Vision: Fact or Fiction?

Joseph Smith's First Vision: Fact or Fiction?

Which First Vision account should we believe?

"The Lord did not come with the armies of heaven...But He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith ...and informed him that he should not join any of the religions of the day, for they were all wrong;..." (Journal of Discourses 2:171). – Brigham Young

Did Joseph Smith really see the Father?

Last night I continued my meetings with the Mormon missionaries that have been coming to my home for Bible studies over the past two weeks or so. We began our discussion with the restoration of the Priesthood and how Joseph Smith claimed to have seen the Father and Jesus Christ. This is one of the most important claims that Mormonism makes. According to Mormonism the reason this vision was given was to restore the true gospel back to the church. If Joseph Smith really did have this vision then Mormonism is the true church, but if he did not then Mormonism is automatically proven to be false.

Joseph Smith claimed to have actually seen the Father by his own words:

"When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defined all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other -- 'this is my beloved Son. Hear him!

Ok, it is clear that Mormons will support what their prophets say, but what does the Bible have to say about seeing the Father.

1 Timothy 6:16 - who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Jesus also said...

John 6:46 - Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

Simply put…here are two Scriptures that say no one can see the Father. Joseph Smith says that he saw the Father. Who is right? What about Steven in Acts 7, right?

Acts 7:55 - But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

Right before Steven was stoned he was allowed to catch a glimpse of the majesty of Jesus Christ. What exactly did he see? He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The “right hand” is simply a position of authority in that day’s culture. If you were on the right hand of someone that was a place of honor and preeminence. It showed that you had authority.

Did Steven see the Father? Does the text say that he saw the Father or the glory of God? He did not see the Father only the glory of God.

The Bible also says:

John 1:18 - No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son,who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

If the Bible says that no one can see the Father, but Joseph Smith says he has seen the Father, how can we reconcile these things? Easy. The Bible says that no one can see the Father therefore Joseph Smith did not see the Father, therefore Mormonism is false because it violates the clear teaching of Scripture.

For a deeper look at this subject. I recommend looking at the link at Carm.org – Can the Father be seen?

How can I know?

Recently I had a two Mormon missionaries come over to my home for a visit. It took a few phone calls but we finally were able to connect, meet, and spend about an hour or so together. The last time I met with the other missionaries they gave me a booklet on the LDS church, asked me to read it and get back in touch if I had any other questions. So, that was exactly what I did.

The last page of the booklet tied up everything nice and neat with the question, “How do I know?” What a great question! The Mormon religion makes a lot of claims so there must be a way to know if it is all true or not. Here is a quote for page 16 on the booklet…

“You can know this message is true. If you ask your Heavenly Father in prayer, you can receive an answer from Him through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is also called the Spirit of God, and one of His roles is to witness, or testify, of the truth.”

May I ask you a question? Have you ever had a feeling and thought something was true but you turned out to be wrong? I know I have. What does the Bible say about trusting in our hearts?

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked;Who can know it?

Ephesians 2:1 - And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

Ephesians 2:5 - even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

From the LDS perspective they are in the restored church and I am in the church of the devil. So if I am to pray to God and ask Him about the Book of Mormon but I am dead in trespasses and sins and my heart is deceitfully wicked…How can I trust myself? How can I know these feelings are true? Why should I trust myself when the Bible tells me not to?

The LDS booklet continues to answer this question.

“The Holy Ghost confirms the truth through feelings, thoughts, and impressions. As taught in the Bible, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23)

So, is that true in its proper context? I don’t think it is. Basically what this book is saying is that if it feels good it must be of God. If it feels good and you are seeking the Lord then it must be from Him. Is this a proper Biblical interpretation?

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 - For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

So you see temptation can feel good. Things that are bad for us can seem right. Temptation can feel and seem good to us or it wouldn’t be temptation. This verse very plainly tells us that Satan can mimic things like peace and joy. Satan can appear as an angel of light! So it brings me back to my original question….How can I know?

Let’s examine a verse from the Book of Mormon and compare it against Scripture to see if the two are harmonious.

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4 - BOM).

Consider this: As a Mormon, have you ever prayed about whether or not the Koran is true, or the Jehovah’s Witness Bible, or a Satanic text? Have you ever prayed about whether or not God would want you to rob a bank or commit adultery? Did you pray with a sincere heart, with real intent? Of course not! There is no need to pray about that which contradicts God’s Word. To do so would be to test God, which is a sin. So we need not to pray about the Book of Mormon. We need only to test it against the Bible.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

There is no need to pray about the Book of Mormon or to pray and ask if Joseph Smith’s first vision was true. We only need to compare everything (including Mormon doctrine) to Scripture and if it fails the test we are to leave all false teaching behind.

Saved by faith or something else?

We are saved by grace through faith after all we can do, right? Wrong, I just quoted 2 Nephi 25:23 in the Book of Mormon. We are saved by grace through faith based only on what Christ has done. That question was a bit of a setup I must confess. Again, we are justified by faith in Christ alone. What good work can you do to earn, keep, or maintain the grace of God? If you said “repentance”, then read 2 Timothy 2:25.

25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

If you said “faith”, then read Philippians 1:29

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

Your believing is the work of God – John 6:28,29

28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

So again…What can you do? You can receive – John 1:12

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

What are you able to do to become saved? The only thing you can do is to trust in Christ. What if someone were to say to you that God’s grace is a substance that that is infused into a person’s soul and this infused grace in them enables them to do good works and then God judges their salvation based upon two things. 1) Their faith in Him and 2) Their good works. What would you say to that? Would that type of thinking be damnable heresy?

What are we talking about here? Justification. How are we justified?

Romans 4:5 - But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

I can go on and on quoting verses plainly stating we are justified (made right) by faith alone. Paul does not combine grace, faith, and works. He says it is either grace or works. Not grace and works. If you are saved by grace and your works, then you are saved by your WORKS! Because grace is the unmerited favor of God. Works is what is due to you because you have earned something. So, you cannot be saved by the unmerited favor of God and the merited favor. Which is it?

So to say that you are saved by grace through faith with works that you perform is damnable heresy because it is denying justification by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.

Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other so-called Christian religions are false because of the reasons mentioned above. They deny the essentials of the Christian faith by saying grace is given to us by God but YOU have to do something to finish the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. The grace of God is then given to them so that they may perform good works by which they are ultimately judged for salvation. But these works they say are done with the grace of God. So, they can call it salvation by grace. What they are doing is speaking from Satan’s mouth and speaking lies about the Word of God.

Now, I have a tough question for you. Do you want to honor God and serve Him in truth? Do you want to do what Jesus did, what the apostle Paul did, and what Peter did? What happened to them when they spoke the truth? They were persecuted. Did they cower down to change their message to what the crowds wanted to hear? No way. They stood on the truth of the Word of God just as Christ did in the Gospels. We are all called as Christians to do the same thing and as Christians we better get this concept down and understand it. That justification by grace is through faith in Christ alone and if you mix works with it then you are damned. Because what you are doing is saying that you have to accomplish and finish what Christ hasn’t finished on the cross.

Mormonism is an apostate religion because it has a false god and it adds works to earn salvation. The same is true for Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower. Whenever you compromise the doctrine of God then the next thing that is compromised is the doctrine of salvation. If God is the true and living God who alone saves, who alone predestines and elects, then your effort is nothing before Him and you cannot be saved in anyway by what you do which is why the Bible says “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness”.

So, grace in order to make works is salvation by works and grace, but biblically grace is unmerited favor of God. Works is what is due, what is merited, so you cannot be saved by grace through faith and by the works that He works in you. Because then it is by merit that YOU accomplish those things. This is a contradictory, self-refuting system. It is false and it is from the pit of Hell. I am sure that I will have to say this a hundred times or more over the next year.

Please understand that I am not in any way mocking Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. But, we must ask whether or not anyone can achieve salvation through his own efforts of keeping the Law or any part of it. The Word of God is clear…

The LDS Repentance Quiz

While doing some research about the LDS church I ran across an online database with about 1,000 listings with Mormon blogs on them. I am taking on the challenge of presenting the true Gospel to our Mormon friends by the means of “blog tracts”. So you will be seeing many more entries on this blog concerning the LDS church as I try to reach out in love to those involved in the LDS faith.

Below you will see a link for a LDS Repentance Quiz. If you are in the Mormon church please take time to check out the test. If you are not, then at least take some time to study the test to learn how we can be a bold witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.


Below is the text that I will be sending out as a blog tract. God bless!

Here’s a million dollar question – If you were to die right now, would you qualify for the celestial kingdom? If you’re like most Mormons, you’re not sure. You try hard to be as good as possible, but you still don’t know if you’ve done enough. If the Book of Mormon is really scripture, this hope will always elude you. Alma 11:37 says God cannot save you in your sins. Are all of your sins forgiven? Moroni 10:32 says you must be perfected in Christ, which can only be done by denying yourself of “all ungodliness”. Have you done that? Do you repent on a regular basis? Is so, then it is clear that you sin on a regular basis, since only those who break the commandments need to repent. 1 Nephi 3:7 states that you are able to keep His commandments. In fact according to D&C 25:15, you are required to keep them continually! Since you haven’t done this so far, why assume you will in the future? Of course, we should all try to be holy; but if you think that sinning less will qualify you to live in God’s presence, you are mistaken (Gal 3:1-11). The assumption that good works are required for forgiveness only cheapens Christ’s atonement, making it nothing more than a partial payment. God chooses to justify us by faith. Jesus alone does the “perfecting” (Heb 10:14). God gives peace to those who trust in Him alone. If you don’t have this peace, it’s probably because at least a part of you trusts in yourself. Questions? Visit us at http://www.gotforgiveness.com/

Jesus of Mormonism and the Jehovah Witness

There are many cults specifically Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness that do not pray or worship Jesus. They ignore or misinterpret many Scriptures within the Bible. The true Jesus of the Bible is worshipped, prayed to, and called God. Just for this example we will look at 1 Corinthians 1:9 which reads:

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Word of God clearly states that we are to have fellowship with Jesus Christ. The word fellowship in the Greek is “koinonia”. It is also translated as “communion”. In Hebrews 13:16 the very same word “koinonia” is translated “to communicate”.

Now, how do you have an intimate communion or communicate with someone you don’t talk to? How does that work? The only way to do that is to spend time with them and talk to that person. We are commanded to have fellowship, koinonia, communion, with Jesus. In order to do that you have to pray to Him, you have to talk to Him. Mormons and JW’s don’t do that. Christians do and the people of the Bible did. So a good question to ask a Mormon or a JW is ...

“Why should I join what you have when the Bible tells me to have this intimate relationship with Christ in prayer, fellowship, and worship? I would have to give this up to join your church. Why should I do that?”

The purpose of this question to help the person begin to think about the proper relationship that we are suppose to have with Jesus Christ. This hopefully will plant a seed that God can water and grow for His glory.

4 Mormons in less than 4 hours

"...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…

Mormon Missionaries

Last night at around 7 pm I was expecting 3 LDS missionaries to show up at my home for a Bible study. Well, one of them canceled so it was just 2 out of the 3, which was great for me because it gives me the chance to talk to the other guy alone.

The missionaries knew that I had talked to other LDS at their church, but I asked them to talk to me just like we were starting from the very beginning. We discussed many different topics including:
· Feelings from the Holy Ghost
· James 1:5 – (Praying for wisdom about the Book of Mormon)
· Joseph Smith – Their founding prophet
· Did Joseph Smith see the Father?
· Just how many gods are there?

The main focus that I want them to think about is – Who is Jesus? Is He the Jesus of Mormonism or is He the Jesus of the Bible that is co-equal, co-eternal, and was never created by the Father? If I have the right Jesus then my sins are forgiven and I will be found righteous in God’s eyes on account of what Jesus has done alone but if the Jesus of Mormonism is wrong then they have put their faith in an idol and their sins are not forgiven. That is what I want them to think about. Which is right? Mormonism or the Bible?

If you are going to have Mormon missionaries come to your home I have some great advice for you. Go to Evangelismteam.com, go to the media, then to audio, and download the files "Two Mormon Missionaries". That is some awesome training! Also go to Mormon.org and check out what Bible verses they use for their beliefs and study how to present truth to them in love. Take care and God bless!

Please pray for these young men and pray for me that I will be able to present truth to them.

Two Jehovah's Witnesses and a Mormon

Lately I’ve been praying that God would send me those opportunities that you hear others have. Ya know, those moments when God just places someone into your hands to share the Gospel with? I’ve had two of those moments recently that I wanted to share.

First encounter: My wife and I always have lunch together but she was stuck in a meeting so at lunchtime I decided to hit the streets of downtown to find someone to witness to. Before I even rounded the corner of the first block I saw two Jehovah’s Witness ladies walk out of a restaurant 20 feet in front of me. My heart began to race and I prayed, “Yes, Lord. I will go”. So I stopped both of them and was able to witness to them. As I began to take them though the Law they wanted to get away from me so bad, but I said to them “Hey, if I’m lost as you say that I am then you should want to stay here and talk to me.” That bought me a few extra minutes and we parted ways on good terms.

Second encounter: At work yesterday we had a guy from Terminex (Pest Inspector) come by our office. After he finished his inspection he was looking for someone to sign the paperwork and there was no one around but me so I offered to sign. Through small talk we began discussing our wives and he told me that he was LDS (Mormon). I began to tell him that I meet with LDS missionaries from time to time and I would like to join him in a Bible study at my home. He seemed a little unsure so he asked for the contact info for the missionaries, which I gave him. He told me that he wanted to join me for a Bible study with them. I said “You can bring whoever you like to my home.” Please pray that he will. I handed him a Gospel tract and asked him to please follow up with me. To God be the glory for these answered prayers.

Ty

Mormon Debate Club

Yesterday I was able to meet with my Mormon buddies for a second go round. It was really a great meeting. Last week I was given a book of Mormon and asked to read some of there scriptures and testimonies. I must admit there is alot of contradictions between the book of Mormon and the infallible, unaltered, unchanging Word of God. The two Mormon missionaries are just really nice fellas though. I'm sure we will be meeting again soon. Elder Hobbs told me he was having such a great time being apart of this Debate Club! Rock on! I created a document with some Scriptures references for them to read and study and they told me that they would. Praise God for that! You can download the document right here.

Two Mormon Missionaries

I was blessed to have the opportunity to have two Mormon missionaries at my house. Throughout the hour and a half long meeting, I was able to insert seeds of truth and quite possibly, cause doubt for them in their Mormon religion. I was able to deliver the gospel message to them and to warn them that there is wrath to come. They agreed that I had brought up some interesting points on some topics and that they would do some studying on their own time. They also agreed to meet with me again very soon. Both of these guys were very nice and polite the entire meeting. I enjoyed speaking with them greatly. Please pray for them that God will reveal his truth to them.