- The Mormons are well known to be egotistical and boastful of their gifts. Anywhere and everywhere they are ready to thrust their claims upon our notice. But boasting is excluded by the law of faith. Rom. 3:27. Humility and meekness of spirit can alone secure the blessings of the Spirit of God.
- Not only the boastfulness of their profession, but also the fruits of their lives have been inconsistent with the teachings and spirit of the gospel. They have manifested a spirit of worldly selfishness, and a disregard of the rights of others which is the reverse of that self-denying love to our neighbor which characterizes the true followers of Christ. Joseph Smith, the founder, leader, and prophet of the sect, set up a bank in Kirtland, Ohio, which proved to be a swindling concern. At Nauvoo a city charter was obtained and he became Mayor of the city. He placed his followers on a war footing, and he was Commander-in-Chief of the “Nauvoo Legion.” His conceit and ambition were so unbounded that he even announced himself a candidate for President of the United States! Outlaws were protected in the city over which he presided with despotic power. Freedom of speech was not allowed; a press was destroyed which was established with
- In regard to the influence of their pretended gifts we will relate the substance of a conversation held a few years since with an aged person living in North-eastern Ohio not far from Kirtland. He was a Morman while Smith was in Kirtland, and remained a Mormon up to the time of our acquaintance with him. He admitted that there was iniquity among them in Kirtland, equal in amount to what common report had it. “But,” said he, “those wicked ones were not Mormons. They came among them for selfish purposes, and whenever their wrongs were found out they professed to repent, and the church was obliged to retain them.”
- Iniquity is lawlessness, or law-breaking. So the original means. Greenfield defines it, “violation of a law, iniquity, improbity, sin;” from “anomos, lawless, without law, not subject to law; violating the law, wicked, impious, a transgressor.” So it is given in the Emphatic Diaglott. And so we find it in Ex. 20:5, 6, the second commandment: “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Observe the contrast; hatred is placed in opposition to love, and iniquity in opposition to keeping the commandments of God. Therefore those described in the text are they who cry to Jesus, Lord, Lord, but do not the will of his Father—they do not keep the law of God. They unite the profession of faith and the claim of the gifts of the Spirit, with iniquity or disregard of the commandments of God. And it is a fact which has lately been confirmed to us by reading and by conversation, that the Mormons take antinomian ground, teaching that the commandments of God are abolished. Said the wise man, “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” They who keep the law are happy; they do not perish. They who transgress the law, or work iniquity, have no
- We admit that the gifts were lost to the church because of apostasy; and as she recovers from the darkness by true, genuine reform, the gifts shall be restored. This is according to the teaching of the Scriptures. But we insist that they are not restored among the “Latter-day Saints”, or Mormons. Their “fruits” stand as their condemnation.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD:–
ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.
BY ELD. J. H.
WAGGONER. 1877
CHAPTER VI.
TRY THE SPIRITS
“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.
That truth lies between extremes, is an old
saying. On the subject now under consideration we find opposites of error;
some accept every manifestation of power as from the Spirit of God, or from
good spirits, while others discard every manifestation of spirit power as
evil. One class overlook the injunction of the text; they do not “try the
spirits whether they are of God,” but accept all without discrimination. The
other class ignore the command given through Paul when he was speaking of the
Spirit, to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” They will not
take the pains to prove anything of the nature of a manifestation of the
Spirit; they reject all, and without a trial.
The first class are again divided into two
parties, and to these we will at present give our attention. One of these
parties is easily disposed of. It embraces all the Spiritualists of this age.
That the media possess power, or are possessed by spirits, no one will deny
who has examined the facts of their manifestations, and studied the prophecies
which relate to them.
N. P. Talmadge, an eminent and noted
Spiritualist, in the preface to the book entitled, “Healing of the Nations,”
claimed that 1 Cor. 12:6-10, is fulfilled in Modern Spiritualism; but in the
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enumeration of the gifts which he copied from
that chapter, he carefully excluded every sentence from which we can learn
that all divine manifestations are by “one and the self-same Spirit.” This is
a sufficient condemnation of all the theories and phenomena of Spiritualism,
for in that, instead of “a diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit,” we find a
great diversity of spirits.
Spiritualists do not occupy, either in theory or practice, the position of
God’s people upon whom he is pleased to bestow the gifts of his Spirit. They
deny Jesus Christ, through whom alone “the promise of the Spirit” is given.
Nothing more is needed to show that their gifts are spurious. The Scriptures
represent them as “seducing spirits,” and their teachings as the “doctrines of
devils.” We cannot deny their power, for they are again spoken of as “the
spirits of devils working miracles.”
The other party to which we have referred is
composed of the “Latter-day Saints,” or Mormons. They have always claimed to
have the gifts among them. The fact of their making this claim has, perhaps
more than all else, created a prejudice against the truth, and brought this
important doctrine into disrepute. These differ from Spiritualists in that
they profess faith in Christ, and preach and claim the power of the Spirit
only as a fulfillment of the promises of the gospel. And because of this claim
and their profession of strong faith in Christ and the gospel, many are led to
believe their gifts are genuine. But when we “try the spirits” by the gospel
standard we shall find that these also are mere counterfeits of the gifts of
the gospel. There are
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certain rules to determine their character,
given by the Saviour, which we will now examine.
“Beware of false prophets.” A true prophet has
a gift of the Spirit of God. False prophets may be of two kinds; mere
pretenders, having no gifts at all, or, having spurious gifts by an evil
spirit. The Saviour says, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” We will make
this our first ground of examination.
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the avowed purpose of exposing the iniquity of
the place; the mob was screened, and it was openly talked by the leading men
that no opposition press would be allowed in the city. They disregarded and
even denied the rights of “the Gentiles,” as they called all who were not of
their number. And their history at Salt Lake has shown a condition of
despotism, oppression, and immorality even worse than at Nauvoo.
Our answer was that the gifts of the Spirit
were given for the perfection of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ. They professed to have all these gifts.
Where then was their discernment, that they could not detect hypocrisy and
expose wickedness, and so put it from their midst?
He replied that it was reasonable to suppose
that where all the gifts existed the church should have been purified to a
greater extent than it was there. He said he could not understand it.
The explanation is easily given: Their gifts
were spurious; they were not of the Spirit of
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God, and did not tend to purify the body, or
to perfect the saints. The spirit of error was with them from the beginning,
and it showed itself in both their doctrines and practices. The Roman
hierarchy never showed a greater love for worldly pre-eminence, or greater
disregard for the moral and legal rights of those who opposed them. It was
truly fortunate for the peace and security of the people that they were not
permitted to grasp the power which they coveted, and which they strove to
obtain. They emigrated to Utah only because they would not live in peace with
their neighbors. Because their leaders would not submit to the laws of the
land, they sought a place where they could rule without restraint. We speak
only those things which are well known to be true, and we are willing to leave
it with the candid that the evidence of their fruits is all against the
genuineness of their gifts.
It is true that there are two parties of
Mormons. Within a few years Joseph Smith, Jr., has headed a party repudiating
Brigham Young, denying his authority, and opposing some of the abominations of
Salt Lake. But Brigham Young succeeded Smith at Nauvoo, and was long
recognized as the head of the Mormon people, and even now those who oppose him
are a small minority. Young’s authority was established on the ground of the
succession, and the assumption that he was gifted with prophetic power. Now if
this was all a mistake, if the whole body of “the Saints” were deceived in
regard to the claims of Young, as the other party assert, if the gift of
prophecy was not conferred on him, then it is proved that their argument
respecting the gifts is no evidence that they are the people of
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God, or, in other words, that their gifts are
genuine. The claims of the two parties, that of Utah and that of Illinois, are
based on the same arguments respecting the gifts and the same assumption that
the gifts are manifested among them. Therefore that argument, and their claim
that they possess the gifts, are shown to be no evidence in their favor. Each
denounces the other, while both stand on the same ground. Some have been led
to believe that they have the true faith because of their gifts, but it is
shown that we must determine their standing by some other rule of judgment.
The Saviour has given that rule in Matt.
7:21-23. This is a continuation of his warning against false prophets. He
says:—
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in Heaven.”
By this we are taught that faith in Jesus
Christ will not procure an entrance into the kingdom of Heaven without
obedience to his Father. Having thus introduced the time and circumstance of
entering into the kingdom, he continues:—
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity.”
Again, granting all that the Mormons claim,
that they prophesy in the name of Jesus, and in his name do many wonderful
works, this text shows positively that that fact is no evidence that they are
his followers. All this may characterize
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the self-deceived; and this profession is made
by those who work iniquity, and who are, therefore, commanded to depart from
him when the faithful enter into the kingdom. Compare Matt. 25:34-41.
To make more clear the application of the text
above quoted we notice two points:—
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vision from God; they perish, for Jesus will
say to them, “Depart from me.” No matter how loud their profession; no matter
how “many wonderful works” they do in the name of Jesus, they are still
self-deceived; their gifts are described in Ezek. 13, as a vain vision and a
lying divination. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his
prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. He that rejects the law of God, his
religion is vain. How, then, shall God bestow upon him the precious gifts of
his Spirit? We repeat what we have said, antinomianism and the Spirit do
not—they cannot—go together.
The restoration is brought to view in Rev.
12:17. “The remnant” here spoken of are the last state of the church; the same
that are spoken of in Rev. 14:12, just before the Lord Jesus comes to reap the
harvest of the earth. This remnant “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Now
the angel said, in Rev. 19:10, “The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of
prophecy.” This is sufficient proof that the church in the last days will have
the Spirit of prophecy. But this company are also said to “keep the
commandments of God,” as it is said of them in Rev. 14:12, “Here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” This, surely, is not
fulfilled
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in those who “make void the law through
faith;” see Rom. 3:31; who professedly substitute the faith of Jesus for the
commandments of God, instead of keeping both together.
But that is the position of the Mormons; they
reject the law of God; they make void the commandments by their traditions,
and are therefore workers of iniquity. Their profession of faith in Christ
will not save them in the day when he comes to give to the little flock the
kingdom. Their gifts will not procure his favor, because their lives are not
right in his sight. Their spirit is a spirit of error, leading to darkness and
delusion. “By their fruits ye shall know them;” not by their profession; not
even by their wonderful works in the name of Jesus, for these are nothing
without obedience to the law of the Father.
We have seen that in the second commandment
love of God is associated with keeping his commandments. In truth there is no
love where obedience is lacking. Says an apostle, “This is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments.” 1 John 5:3. Love and obedience are
inseparable. This enables us to appreciate the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 13:1,
2:—
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.”
Now we discover the harmony between the words
of our Saviour in Matt. 7, and the words of Paul in the above text. Bearing in
mind that
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iniquity is violation of the law, and love is
the keeping of the law, the Saviour shows that to prophesy and to do wonderful
works in his name will not secure an entrance into the kingdom to such as work
iniquity. Likewise, Paul says that the gift of prophecy and faith to remove
mountains is nothing without the love of God.
It is only by examining these texts that we
can appreciate the force of Rev. 12:17, that the remnant keep the commandments
of God and have the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of prophecy; and we are
distinctly informed in both Testaments that they who reject the law worship in
vain; they are workers of iniquity; they will be told to depart from the
presence of Jesus in the great day of his wrath.
These scriptures apply to the Mormons more
directly than to any other people of this age. They have never occupied the
position of those who are pointed out in the word of God as preparing to meet
the Lord at his appearing. They have not fulfilled the prophecy of the remnant
in any particular. And we entreat all who have been tempted to regard them as
the people of God because of their supposed possession of the gifts, to “try
the spirits whether they are of God;” to examine more closely the words of the
Saviour in Matt. 7:15-23; and to study more carefully the position of the
remnant who are accepted of the Lord when he comes to give the kingdom to his
little flock. And let us each individually see to it that we are of that
number “who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.”
“Where there is no vision, the people perish;
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
(((My note: After reading this I took it upon myself to
study more about the Mormon (LDS) religion in light of today. The fact that
they still to this day hold the Book of Mormon as well as others not of the
Bible as standards to their religion is true. They believe their founder
Joseph Smith was a prophet who was given special instructions to write an
addition to the Bible as being factual and from God. Their founder used a seer
stone to interpret golden plates he found guided by an angel- this is the
heart of their religion and without their book of mormon (as well as others)
they would not have a religion as such. Their religion does not stand on the
Bible and the Bible only, but they've added extensively to God's word through
their own self-proclaimed prophets. If our standard is the Bible and the Bible
only, we cannot hold with their religion and in truth, trying the spirits
whether they are of God… will reveal much contradiction. Isa 8:20 To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them.
Luk_24:27 And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself.
Rev 1:1 The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants
things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his
angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who
bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of
all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:18 For
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book,
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And
if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He
which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Additional note-
while the Bible and its contents have been proven historically correct time
and time again through archeological discoveries, this is written about
Mormonism-
Lee
Strobel comments about the Book of
Mormon:
"Archaeology has repeatedly failed to substantiate its claims about
events that supposedly occurred long ago in the Americas. I remember writing
to the Smithsonian Institute to inquire about whether there was any evidence
supporting the claims of Mormonism, only to be told in unequivocal terms that
its archaeologists see 'no direct connection between the archaeology of the
New World and the subject matter of the book.'" Archaeologists have never
located cities, persons, names, or places mentioned in the Book of Mormon.3
Also note- there
are many religions that hold a lot of light, but just enough error to be very
corrupt- the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization is one of these as
well. Even though the writer of this book we are studying is a SDA from 1877,
it doesn't mean the church itself adhered to its original beliefs, it did not.
Truly the Bible and
the Bible only has to be our standard.
Here is a link to a
very informative article: https://www.everystudent.com/features/bible.html
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