An examination and response to Mormonism by Charlie H. Campbell

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1 August, 2024

THE ORIGIN OF THE MORMON CHURCH

The Mormon Church is officially known as “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” The Mormon Church is commonly referred to by Mormons, simply as “LDS,” short for Latter-day Saints.

The Church was founded by Joseph Smith, born in Vermont in 1805. Somewhat confused as a fourteen-year-old about the disagreements between the denominational churches of his day, Joseph Smith says he took the verse found in James 1:5 to the Lord in prayer (“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him”).

As the story goes, Joseph Smith, lacking wisdom about which church to join, walked into the woods behind his home to pray. According to Smith, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in the forest.

Let’s pause there for a moment.

This is one of the reasons it’s so important to know the Bible.

If someone comes out of the forest and says God the Father appeared to him visibly, in human form, you should immediately realize the person is lying. Why?

• God told Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exodus 33:20).

• God the Father “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).

• John wrote, “No man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).

• Jesus said, “God is spirit” (John 4:24).

God the Father doesn’t have a body of flesh and bones (as the Mormon church, to this day, contends). Had people known their Bibles better, they would not have been misled by Joseph Smith’s lie. It’s so important to know the Bible!

Now, back to the story. According to Joseph Smith, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in the forest and supposedly informed him that . . .

• the churches “were all wrong”
• “their creeds were an abomination”
• and “their professors were all corrupt”
[LDS Source: churchofjesuschrist.org]

Of course, this was an outrageous charge! There were lots of good churches in the early 1800s. But Joseph Smith was just getting warmed up.

In 1823, three years after supposedly being visited in the forest, Joseph Smith alleges that “a glorified resurrected being” named Moroni, appeared to him and told him of golden plates that were buried in a nearby hillside, in Cumorah, New York. These plates, as the story goes, were written by an ancient prophet-historian by the name of Mormon, and contained a record of an ancient people who had migrated from the near east to the Americas in 600 BC. [See the Book of Mormon: Introduction]

In 1827 the angel Moroni supposedly again appeared to Smith. This time, he directed him to a location on a hill called “Cumorah” to unearth the plates and begin “translating” the “Reformed Egyptian” characters inscribed on them with “the gift and power of God.”

Joseph Smith said he was forbidden by Moroni from revealing these golden plates to anybody lest he be destroyed. [Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 1, 1:59-60]

Well, hello! You have to immediately suspect something fishy is going on!

Three men, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery, prayed with Joseph Smith that they might also get to see the plates. According to the introduction in the Book of Mormon, an angel of God came down from Heaven in June of 1829 and laid the plates before their eyes to see (not literally but in a vision).

According to the Mormon Church, some time after Joseph Smith was done translating the plates, the plates were removed by Moroni and to this day are not available for inspection.

How convenient!

It is interesting to note that all three of these individuals eventually left the church. [Source: Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 149-150]

In 1830, three years after having supposedly received the plates, Joseph Smith published his results. The name of the book?

THE BOOK OF MORMON

The Book of Mormon claims right on its cover to be: “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” It claims to be an abridged account of God’s dealings with the original inhabitants of the American continent, between about 600 BC to AD 421. The Book of Mormon teaches that after his resurrection, Jesus came to the Americas, performed miracles, and chose 12 men from a people known as the Nephites to be His American disciples.

One month after publishing the Book of Mormon in 1830, Joseph Smith founded his church in Fayette, New York. As the church grew, so did public opposition, not only because of their doctrines, but also because of the polygamy Joseph Smith was espousing. This opposition forced the Mormons to move on to other areas. They settled for a while in Kirtland, Ohio; then in Independence, Missouri; then in Nauvoo, Illinois, where Smith became the mayor of the city. During this time, Joseph Smith’s continuing revelations yielded other Mormon “Scriptures”: Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. [Concise wording here adapted from Ron Rhodes, Find It Quick Handbook on Cults and New Religions, p. 64]

By 1844, Joseph Smith, at the age of thirty nine, had nearly 35,000 followers.

In 1844 Joseph Smith was imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, and charged with inciting a riot after his city council attempted to destroy the office and printing presses of a newspaper company that exposed the Mormon’s secret practice of polygamy.

Before Joseph Smith could be tried on these charges, a mob broke into his cell and killed both him and his brother.

Brigham Young (1801-77) took over leadership as the second president of the Mormon Church. It was under Brigham Young’s leadership that the followers of Joseph Smith’s teachings made the long journey west to relocate to Salt Lake City, Utah. And of course, that is where the Mormon Church has been headquartered to this day.

Today, the Mormon Church has grown to 16.5 million members [source] and is officially known as: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” It’s unfortunate that they have attached our Lord’s name to it, for Mormonism is far from Christian, as I will go on to show!

II. FOUR UNBIBLICAL TEACHINGS OF THE MORMON CHURCH

There are numerous teachings we disagree with the Mormon Church on. Let’s just consider four. This first one has to do with . . .

1. The Mormon Church’s View of God

Mormonism is a polytheistic religion (e.g.,The Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 5:1-21). That is, they believe in the existence of more than one god. Although Mormons believe in the existence of more than one god, they only worship one god, whom they call “Heavenly Father” or “Elohim.”

The Mormon Church says this god (“Elohim” or “Heavenly Father”) is just one of many gods in an eternal chain of gods that have been begotten by other gods. Because “Elohim” is the god over this planet, LDS leaders say we need not worship the other gods that were around before Elohim. Elohim is our creator and thus the god to whom we are accountable.

Well, you Bible students know that we disagree with them on their polytheistic view of God. Notice what God says in Isaiah 44.

Isaiah 44:6–8
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God . . . I know not one.’”

If God—who is omniscient—does not know of any other gods, then surely there are no other gods. And this is something the Scriptures affirm elsewhere. For example, Paul writes in . . .

1 Corinthians 8:4
“There is no God but one.”

From beginning to end, the Bible teaches that there is only one God! Mormonism’s polytheism is completely at odds with this.

2. The Mormon Church’s View of Man

Mormons believe that before birth into this present world, all human beings preexisted in Heaven as spiritual offspring of a father and mother, a god and goddess. [Gospel Principles, 2010, p. 275]

According to LDS doctrine, being born into this life here on Earth is something that we agreed to in Heaven. Mormons are taught that this life serves as a test and a means of obtaining exaltation one day to godhood. [Gospel Principles, 2010, p. 275]

Godhood? Humans can become gods? According to the Mormon Church . . . yes!

The Mormon Church says that humans are gods “in embryo” [Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Christology,” 1992, p. 273] and may attain exaltation to godhood just as our Heavenly Father has.

Joseph Smith declared: “God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man.” [Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345-346]

Brigham Young, the church’s second president, said: “The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself . . . We are created to become Gods like unto our Father in Heaven.” [Journal of Discourses, 3:93]

The fifth president of the LDS church, Lorenzo Snow, coined the phrase:

“As man is, God once was: as God is, man may become.”
[source]

Now you might be wondering if the Mormon Church stands by this quote all these years later. They do. I went to the churchofjesuschrist.org website last night (11/1/2020) just to make sure I could still find President Snow’s quote on their site. And it’s still there. And with this comment: “It is clear that the teaching of President Lorenzo Snow is both acceptable and accepted doctrine in the Church today.” [source]

Well! How does one become a God according to the Mormon Church?

According to Mormon theology, one achieves exaltation to godhood by living a life of obedience to Mormon teaching and practices.

Those exalted to godhood will get to inhabit a planet one day and procreate spirit children, continuing the cycle of gods begetting other gods. [Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20, Gospel Principles, 1992, p. 14]

Well! You Bible students know that this is all completely contrary to the Bible. The God of the Bible says this in Isaiah 43:10: “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.”

There were no gods before God, and there will never be another god after Him! This rules out any possibility that human beings have become or can become gods.

3. The Mormon Church’s View of Jesus

The Bible teaches that Jesus . . .

• is God (John 20:28)
• is the creator of all things (John 1:3)
• existed from all eternity (Micah 5:2)
• is equal in nature with the Father (John. 5:18; Hebrews 1:3)

Mormon teaching says that Jesus was one of many sons who were procreated in Heaven by Elohim and one of his many unnamed wives.

These sons, according to the Mormon Church, included Lucifer (Satan) himself.
[See: Pearl of Great Price: Book of Moses, Chapter 4, v. 1-4; Gospel Principles, 1992, p. 17-18]

Now, this isn’t something Mormon missionaries will tell you on your porch (for obvious reasons). But this is the official teaching of the Mormon Church. The church’s official website even acknowledges this. For example, click here to see. In case they delete this page or change the link, it says there:

“On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers . . . Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother. (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.)”

So, the Jesus of Mormonism is different than the Jesus revealed in the Bible.

The Mormon Church also denies the Biblical account of the virgin birth. It teaches instead that the human body given to Jesus at His birth was the product of physical relations between God the Father who visited Earth and had relations with Mary (who was previously his spirit daughter in Heaven!). [For Mormon sources that teach this, see: utlm.org/onlineresources/ldsleadersconceptofjesus.htm and letusreason.org/lds10.htm]

So, the Jesus of Mormonism is a different Jesus than the one the Bible reveals and the One Christians have long loved and worshipped (the Son of God, uncreated, equal with the Father in nature, and born of a virgin).

4. The Mormon Church’s View of Salvation (Heaven & Hell)

The Mormon Church teaches that Jesus’ death on the cross brings about a general salvation for all mankind. The result of this salvation, according to the Mormon Church, is that all mankind (including the worst of sinners) will be resurrected and given eternal life in one of three different levels in Heaven. [Gospel Principles, published by LDS, 1992, p. 74, 297-298]

3. Celestial (the highest, for faithful Mormons)
2. Terrestrial (the middle, for “less than valiant Mormons” and morally upright non-Mormons)
1. Telestial (the lowest, for those who were carnal and sinful throughout life )

To make it into the best of the three levels of heaven (the Celestial level), the Mormon Church teaches that a person must repent, be baptized in the Mormon Church, and live a life of obedience to the laws and teachings of the Mormon Church. To make it there and go on to become a god, one must also be married in a Mormon temple sometime in this life. [Gospel Principles, published by LDS, 1992, p. 297]

So to the Mormon, Jesus’ death on the cross is merely the beginning of salvation. Human works are needed to complete the process.

According to the Mormon Church, Hell is only a temporary place of suffering for the wicked. After their time of punishment they too will be accepted into glory. [Guide to the Scriptures, published by LDS, 2006, “Hell”]

Well, you Bible students know that all of these things are unbiblical. The Bible knows nothing of different, exclusive levels of Heaven. And the Bible clearly rejects the Mormon teaching that all people will be saved (e.g., read Revelation 20 sometime).

God has made provision for all people to be saved through Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins (John 3:16), but many people reject God’s offer of reconciliation. And in the end, the Bible assures us they will be judged for their sins and end up in a place called Hell for all eternity (e.g., Matthew 25:41-46).

You do not want to end up there! And you don’t have to, if you will place your faith in Jesus. If you haven’t done that, I encourage you to do it today! Click here for steps to peace with God.

So, that is a brief look at four unbiblical teachings of the Mormon Church: The Mormon church has a polytheistic view of God. They have a procreated Jesus who is equal in nature with Lucifer. They teach that man can progress to Godhood. They teach that all people will inherit eternal life in one of three different levels in Heaven.

Friend, that is not Christianity.

Now the question we were hearing a while back on the news was this . . .

IS MORMONISM A CULT?

A pastor down in Texas referred to Mormonism as a “cult” when talking about Presidential contender Mitt Romney. And the media––always on the lookout for some new controversy in the Presidential race––went crazy trying to turn it into a big story. So what’s our answer to this question?

It depends on how we define the word cult. If we define a cult to be any religious group that derives from a parent religion (like Christianity) but in fact departs from that parent religion by denying (explicitly or implicitly) one or more of the essential doctrines of that religion, then yes the LDS group is a cult of Christianity. The Nation of Islam is a cult of Islam. The Hare Krishna sect is a cult of Hinduism. There’s a problem though.

Our society today has largely abandoned that definition of the word cult. A cult to most people today is a group of people whose entire lives are controlled by a heavy-handed individual who has them sitting around in the dark participating in weird séances and drinking poisonous Cool-Aid. That’s what people envision when we say “cult.”

And so, when they hear Christians say “Mitt Romney belongs to a cult,” they think “You Christians are so foolish! Surely Mitt Romney doesn’t participate in séances!”

So then, it might be better to avoid the word “cult” and just tell people specifically what we think about Mormonism:

“Mormonism is a modern day, man-made, polytheistic, God-making, Jesus-demoting religion invented by Joseph Smith in the early 1800s that is made up today of very nice people who’ve been led to turn their back on the traditional, orthodox doctrines of Christianity as revealed in the Bible. Call it what you like, it’s not Christianity.”

Maybe that would be a more effective way of communicating what we think about Mormonism. (Of course, we need to speak the truth in love.)

All right, so first we considered the origin of Mormonism. Secondly, we considered four unbiblical teachings of the Mormon Church. Thirdly, I’d like to talk about . . .

III. SIX REASONS THE BOOK OF MORMON SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED

There are lots of reasons to reject the Book of Mormon. I’ll narrow it down here to six reasons you can be sure the Book of Mormon is not sacred Scripture. You can remember these points more easily with this acronym:

S.A.C.R.E.D.
Six reasons why the Book of Mormon is not SACRED Scripture.

1. It Contradicts Authentic Scripture.

God has given us a way of testing other so-called revelation . . .

Isaiah 8:20
“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

In other words, Isaiah says, ‘Hold up any claims by a self-proclaimed prophet to the Word of God. If it contradicts the Bible, it can be rejected.’ Well, the Book of Mormon, in many instances, fails this test. It contradicts authentic Scripture. Here are some examples:

• The Bible says that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem (Luke 2:4, Micah 5:2). According to the Book of Mormon, Jesus was born in the city of Jerusalem (Alma 7:10).

• The Bible says believers were first called Christians after Paul’s ministry in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The Book of Mormon claims people were known by this title as early as 73 BC. (Alma 46:15).

• In the Old Testament the only ones who could be priests were the descendants of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Israel (Numbers 3:9-10). The Book of Mormon claims that descendants of the tribe of Manasseh were made priests (Alma 10:3, 2 Nephi 5:26).

The Book of Mormon has many of these kinds of inconsistencies and contradictions. For more examples, click here.

2. Archaeological Verification is Absolutely Lacking.

No archaeological evidence has corroborated the Book of Mormon. None of the large cities it names, no ruins, no coins, no letters or documents or monuments, nothing in writing, not even one of the rivers or mountains or any of the topography it mentions has ever been identified. [Dave Hunt, In Defense of the Faith, 156]

Nothing which demonstrates that the Book of Mormon is anything other than an early nineteenth century piece of fiction, invented by Joseph Smith, has ever been found.

The National Geographic Society put out this statement regarding the Book of Mormon in 1998:

Archaeologists and other scholars have long probed the hemisphere’s past, and the Society does not know of anything found so far that has substantiated the Book of Mormon. –National Geographic Society (August 12, 1998)

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. put out a three page statement regarding the Book of Mormon in 1996. They said:

The Smithsonian Institution has never used The Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no direct connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book.

In response to a question about the Book of Mormon in 1981, the National Geographic Society said:

Neither the Society nor any other institution of equal prestige has ever used the Book of Mormon in locating archaeological sites. Although many Mormon sources claim that the Book of Mormon has been substantiated by archaeological findings, this claim has not been scientifically substantiated. However, several locations in the Bible have. –National Geographic Society, Harry Palmer, September 29, 1981

Mormon scholar Dee Green conceded that this was the case all the way back in 1969. Green was the editor of the University Archaeological Society Newsletter published at Brigham Young University. He said:

No Book of Mormon location is known with reference to modern topography. Biblical archaeology can be studied because we do know where Jerusalem and Jericho were and are, but we do not know where Zarahemla and Bountiful (nor any other location for that matter) were or are. It would seem then that a concentration on geography should be the first order of business, but we have already seen that twenty years of such an approach has left us empty-handed. [Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, 77-78]

Or there was Thomas Stuart Ferguson, a Mormon archaeologist and apologist. He dedicated more than twenty years of his life to finding proof for the Book of Mormon. He founded the New World Archaeology Foundation at Brigham Young University, which was established for the purpose of unearthing archaeological evidence that would support the Book of Mormon. After utterly failing to find any evidence, he said this:

With all of these great efforts, it cannot be established factually that anyone, from Joseph Smith to the present day, has put his finger on a single point of terrain that was a Book of Mormon geographical place. And the hemisphere has been pretty well checked out by competent people . . . I must agree with Dee Green, who has told us that to date there is no Book of Mormon geography. I, for one, would be happy if Dee was wrong . . . you can’t set Book of Mormon geography down anywhere—because it is fictional. [Cited in Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, 76-80 and footnotes]

Then why would he stay in the church? A year later, Thomas Ferguson wrote:

Mormonism is probably the best conceived myth-fraternity to which one can belong.” –Thomas Stuart Ferguson, Founder of the New World Archaeology Foundation at Brigham Young University [Cited in Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, 76-80 and footnotes]

If a Mormon tells you that archaeological evidence does exist, ask for documentation from non-Mormon sources.

3. It Has Undergone Enormous Change.

Joseph Smith said he translated the golden plates from which he supposedly got the Book of Mormon, letter-by-letter and “by the power of God.” [History of the Church, i, p.54-55) see Saint’s Herald, November 15, 1962, p.16]

Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon was: “the most correct of any book on Earth.” [History of the Church, 4:461; this is also stated in the Introduction in the Book of Mormon]

If that was true, there shouldn’t have been any need for any corrections––even spelling and grammatical errors. But, there have been changes. Lots of them.

MORE THAN 4,000 CHANGES

There have been more than 4,000 changes made to the Book of Mormon between the time that the original was published in 1830 and edition that is used today. This can pose a real problem to Mormons. Why? If the Book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on earth,” as Joseph Smith said, and if the golden plates were truly translated letter by letter “by the power of God” by Joseph Smith, there would have been no need for any changes!

Here are a couple examples of the changes:

• The original version at 1 Nephi 11:21 says that Jesus is “the eternal Father.” Today’s version says (in the same verse) that Jesus is: “the Son of the eternal Father.”

• The original version at Mosiah 21:28 says that “King Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings.” Today’s version says (in the same verse) that “King Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings.”

To see more changes, click here.

We also recommend the book 3,913 Changes in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. It is an exact photographic reproduction of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. And the authors, the Tanners, mark everywhere the wording has changed and in the margins tell you what the new edition of the Book of Mormon says. Now, a moment ago I said there were more than 4,000 changes. Why does the title of this book only say 3,913 changes? Because it was published before the 1981 and 2013 editions of the Book of Mormon were released, wherein hundreds of additional changes were introduced.

4. It Rips Off Thousands of Words and Phrases from Other Sources

In other words, it contains extensive plagiarism. As you know, to plagiarize is to take ideas or writings from another and offer them as one’s own. Well, Joseph Smith did this hundreds of times in the Book of Mormon.

In addition to borrowing from other books* in print at the time Joseph Smith was alive, Smith borrowed thousands of words, verses, and paragraphs directly from the King James Version of the Bible. [*e.g., Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews published in 1823; Josiah Priest’s The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed, published in 1825. See Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church, p. 68ff for details and examples of plagiarism from these extrabiblical sources]

Joseph Smith even plagiarized the italicized words in the King James Version. The italicized words, as noted in the preface of the KJV, were added by the King James translators for clarity. And yet, even those words ended up in the Book of Mormon! That’s odd.

Joseph Smith said that the golden plates he supposedly translated in 1830, were originally penned way back between 600 BC and AD 421. That raises a challenging question for our Mormon friends.

How could the Book of Mormon contain such extensive quotations from the King James Version of the Bible that was written in Old English and wasn’t even published until 1611, more than a 1,000 years later?

That is a question Mormons have a hard time answering. The answer to the question is that Joseph Smith plagiarized from the King James Version of the Bible. This is another reason we reject the Book of Mormon.

5. It is Permeated with Scientific and Historical Errors.

Dr. Thomas Key, a university biology instructor and author of the book The Book of Mormon in the Light of Science, documents numerous problems that exist in the Book of Mormon.

Among the problems he documents are the Book of Mormon’s:

• Geographical problems
• Botanical problems
• Zoological problems
• Language problems
• Microbiological problems
• Physiological problems
• Physical and Chemical Problems
• Technological problem
• Anthropological problems
• Historical problems
• Grammatical and Spelling Problems (in the first edition 1830).

I’ll walk you through one of the errors in the Book of Mormon and leave the others for you to investigate on your own.

The Book of Mormon claims that in 600 BC (about 2,600 years ago) there was a migration of Hebrew people to the Americas. The introduction to the Book of Mormon says that these people, whom Joseph Smith called Lamanites, “are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” [Update: The LDS Church has more recently changed the wording. Read more about that here.]

LDS leaders have repeatedly stated that the Native American Indians trace their roots back to Book of Mormon people, Hebrews, who migrated to the Americas c. 600 BC. That foundational claim in the Book of Mormon has been disproved by a wealth of scientific DNA research.

Archaeologists, anthropologists, and now DNA experts, have reached a consensus: The Native American Indians were not descendants of the Hebrew people as the Book of Mormon claims.

Had there been a Hebrew migration to the new world in ancient times, as the Book of Mormon claims, there would at least be some evidence of this in the DNA of modern-day Native Americans. That is not the case.

There never was a Hebrew migration to the Americas in ancient times and there is no evidence there was ever a “Lamanite” people.

There is a great video that documents this DNA evidence called DNA vs. the Book of Mormon.

6. It Was Published by a Deceitful False Prophet.

Joseph Smith, who was the publisher—and I believe author—of the Book of Mormon, made numerous false prophecies. For example:

In September of 1832 Joseph Smith claimed that the Lord told him that the latter-day Saints would build the New Jerusalem and its temple in Zion, Missouri, during his generation. Joseph Smith said:

For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house. . . . which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed.

Joseph Smith was in Kirtland, Ohio, at the time he made this prophecy. Little did he know that as he spoke, his followers in Zion were being run out of town. Their printing presses were destroyed and some of their leaders were tarred and feathered!

Well, it’s been almost 200 years since this prophecy was made. Generations have come and gone since 1832 and the New Jerusalem has not been built in Zion, Missouri. A proven false prophecy. There are many.

On May 6, 1843, Joseph Smith made this prophecy:

I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left . . . ”

Well, the United States government did not redress (or rectify) any of the wrongs committed against the Mormons in Missouri and now, over 150 years later, the U.S. government is still standing. Here we have another example of a false prophecy. And there were many more.

What are we to think about a person who prophesies in the name of the Lord and his prophecies do not come to pass?

Deuteronomy 18:22
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

God says, “You shall not be afraid of him.” That word afraid in the Hebrew is the word guwr (Deut. 18:22). Beside meaning “afraid” it can also mean “to turn aside from the road.” In other words, God is saying, we are to have nothing to do with false prophets. There is to be no turning aside from the truth to follow after them.

So, this is another reason we do not trust the Book of Mormon.

Concise Recap of Problems (S.A.C.R.E.D.) with Book of Mormon:

1. The BOM contradicts authentic SCRIPTURE.
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL verification ins absolutely lacking.
3. The BOM has undergone enormous CHANGE.
4. The BOM RIPS off thousands of words and phrases from other sources.
5. The BOM is permeated with scientific and historical ERRORS.
6. The BOM was published by a DECEITFUL false prophet.

Orson Pratt, a Mormon “apostle” of old, said the following in 1851:

“The Book of Mormon claims to be a divinely inspired record . . . If false, it is one of the most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions [burdens] ever palmed upon the world, calculated to deceive and ruin millions. . . if false, no one can possibly be saved and receive it.” [Orson Pratt’s Works, “Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon,” Liverpool, 1851, p.1-2]

Seeing that the Book of Mormon is false, we’ll allow Pratt’s own statement to summarize for us what the Book of Mormon is: “It is one of the most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions [burdens] ever palmed upon the world, calculated to deceive and ruin millions.”

May the Lord help many Mormons to see that that is the case.

SHARING THE TRUTH WITH MORMON MISSIONARIES

1. Be kind and compassionate with them.

The young men or women who come to your door are not purposely going door to door to deceive people. They themselves have been deceived (2 Cor. 4:4). Most of them have been raised in Mormon homes. They’ve never known anything other than Mormonism.

Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. God give us the same kind of love for those who are perishing!

2 Timothy 2:24-26
“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

So, remember that. They are not the enemy. They have been taken captive by the enemy. So, God’s Word says to be gentle with them.

2. Let them talk.

They will typically wrap up their talk by telling you that they know the Mormon Church is true. And then they will challenge you to read the Book of Mormon. That is their supreme goal for that first visit at your house, putting a Book of Mormon in your hands and challenging you to read it.

3. Tell them you have already looked into the Book of Mormon.

You’ve read some of it right here on this website. Say something like this (very humbly), “I have read a bit of the Book of Mormon.”

4. Say something like, “I ran into a few problems. Maybe you can help me out.”

I have found this approach to be more effective than saying, “I disagree with the Mormon religion, and here’s why . . . the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible . . . you believe in the existence of multiple gods . . . ” and so on.

5. Excuse yourself for a moment and go pray.

Our battle, Ephesians 6 says, is not against flesh and blood but against unseen wicked spirits and forces who have deceived these people! So, knowing that the “fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16), we pray!

6. Grab your list of questions.

What questions? Questions from this website (see no. 7 below). Questions that specifically address problems with the Book of Mormon. Asking questions is a great way to get people to think about things they may have never thought about.

Jesus often did this with His critics. They’d come to him with some challenge or criticism, and He’d say, ‘Let me ask you a question.’

7. Ask three or four of the questions you’ve prepared ahead of time.

Click here to open up a separate tab with a list of questions. As you ask these kinds of difficult questions, you are going to help Mormons see that the Book of Mormon is not reliable. This is important because Mormons will rarely consider leaving the Mormon church unless they begin to question the reliability of the Book of Mormon. So, print out some of these kinds of questions and stick them in the back of your Bible.

8. Suggest to them the idea of getting together again.

If they come back, have your second batch of questions ready. And the goal of course, is not to stump them with questions but to get them thinking about the fact that they have been misled by the Mormon Church, with the hope that they might be more receptive to the true gospel found in the Bible.

Why Pentecostal service and its enthusiasm and power is dying in many Pentecostal churches Part 2

By

Ogba Victor

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23 July, 2024

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In the previous part of this discourse, I explained that the dark shades cast on our gatherings and services, even the special Sunday services like Pentecostal service is because we have lacked wholesome following towards God. Today’s church is no more the kind of church Jesus had established by teaching and lifestyle because we have abandoned the disciplines of Christ.

Now, someone could redundantly ask, “In what way have we shown God unfaithfulness in being disciples?” Number one example is in the way of laxity towards establishing a firm prayer infrastructure in our local parishes. My house shall be called a house of prayer said the Lord. Not a house of miracles, not a house of prophetic declarations, not a house of praise, not a house of dancing and rejoicing, not a house of fanciful and eye-popping magnificent structure. It is simply prayer; every other thing is secondary.

I live in a society in which established churches make fun of prayer houses and speak ill of them to say they are fake. But I beg to differ even though I am currently a church pastor in a big wig denomination. If those prayer houses will decide to firmly maintain biblical standards, and be word based instead of the prophetic abracadabra we see today, even God would prefer and pitch His glorious tent with them instead of our established Churches that will not yield themselves to His way. For God does not show favouritism, neither does He respect persons and name. He accepts those who do what is right wherever they may be.

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:34-35, KJV)

How today’s church believe they can harness the power of God without adequate and effective church prayer infrastructure is proof that we read scriptures, study history and have learnt absolute nothing. Even on the day of Pentecost, the baptism of fire and power did not come until men waited on God for gruesome ten days. And after they prevailed, Pentecost power came!

I have been privileged to read about some historical accounts of revivals, outpourings and the move of God. And history has not failed to avail us knowledge and understanding that the Holy Ghost’s power cannot come down without prayer.

The prayer that birth the Hebrides revival was carried on for months until the Lord visited the land through the Church. John Knox prayed fervently for long before the Scottish revival was born. The Welsh revival happened when a man of prayer waited on God for twelve years. Nothing, I repeat nothing pulls Pentecostal power like prevailing prayer. Not songs, not chants, not worship, not bible classes, not programs, not the prophetic and charismatic displays we have today. Not the standard of the music equipment, nor the aesthetics of the church house moves the Spirit one bit.

I agree that worship, songs and powerful teaching can steer the hearts and water the soul but that is if the presence of God is already trapped in that house. And this presence is only trapped by a praying church. I say this without a flinch of thought because one of the graces the Lord availed me is the ability to trap God’s presence when I pray. It took many nights and days of prayer for such congregational grace to be put upon an individual.

Without adequate prayer that traps God’s presence, the song and worship will be very entertaining and artistic. And because the flesh loves entertainment, it will dance and find happiness in good music. But the soul is only moved by the Spirit of God. And if we are privileged to have good instrumentals, the place will be full of sparkling aura but also full of death. Only the Spirit gives life.

Again, without adequate prayers the sermon could be so wonderful and mentally intriguing but full of death darts. Only the Spirit can give life. For the letter killeth, and that is no matter how skilled the scribe, teacher or preacher is. So Jesus started with prayer, did his work close to His praying altar and ended his ministry with prayer.

I grew up listening to the song “Prayer is the key!” Who has bewitched us to switch off the fire of our vigils? The very nights that lit up our local churches and powered her for Sunday service. Today I see pastors looking for every reasonable excuse not to burn the night fire. But no excuse is enough reason not to keep the fire burning; especially when we already know the will of the Master.

Today we have successfully substituted the master key that unlocks all spiritual gates, which also unlocks the doors of church growth, and unlocks the Holy Ghost’s power. We have effectively replaced the master key which unlocks the hardened hearts of our youths, and which also dismantles the yoke of satanic oppression. Today we have chosen empty charismatic activities, crowd pleasing prophetic declarations and major entertainment over diligent seeking and waiting on God. We hope to trap our youths with entertainment, sight seeing and special service. We plan to use improved equipments to keep men. We may succeed in keeping men but souls are only kept by the Spirit of God.

And if we use man-made methods or carnal means to keep the people in the fellowship, we will continue to need and use more carnal means or methods to keep theme. But when we engage the true ways of the discipled church, we will get to keep and fellowship with true believers. But we truly are ignorant.

Don’t you see the boasting of many pastors today? The projects they carried out, those who became rich during their pastorship, the number of couples wedded, etc. Can we also take count of the youths and teenagers who left the church and abandoned Christ while they chased after vain glory? Can we take inventory of those who fell into sin and spiritual death in the course of their pastoring? What about those who were locked up and held behind demonic prison bars during the years of kingdom-wise unfruitful church leadership because the methods of Christ were not utilized in leading the church.

Dear Christian, observe and learn that all these things they boast of are possible without the Holy Spirit. But when the Spirit comes upon us, the testimony for souls won for the kingdom will outshine the other frivolities that have no eternal value. There will be power for signs and wonders, healing and miracles will be paramount. Salvation and revival will be the portion of our morally and spiritually degraded membership and youths.

I want to conclude by telling us what happened some time ago. I once approached God and asked him to come down and grace the department where I currently serve as an associate pastor. Jesus then told me that we have not as a department prayed enough for Him to come down and show his strength amongst us. We were a praying church but we still needed more months of faithful perseverance and commitment in prayer to see his power.

From the reply Jesus gave, we could establish the fact that God’s power will be forever absent in our gatherings and special services until we begin to wholly follow the way that Christ taught the early disciples, which was transferred to the early church, and was practiced by the early Pentecostal churches, and that system is that the church must always pray and not faint.

Some of the problems of Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter day saints)

By

Ogba Victor

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23 July, 2024

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One of the many issues I have with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) is their use of extrabiblical books they consider equal to the Bible. Mormons consider the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price to be equal to the Bible. Now, they do accept the Bible, too, but they believe parts of the Bible may have been lost or removed, so that is how they can resolve some contradictions between what the Bible says versus their other books of scripture. But I’m not going to get into that in this short blog. What I want to focus on here is the Mormon idea that their spirits existed prior to them being born on earth.

In other words, Mormons believe they had a preexistence as spirit bodies prior to their spirits being placed in mortal bodies on earth. In his King Follett sermon, given a few months before he died in 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, is reported to have said the following:

…the soul—the mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation… [The Bible] does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says, “God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam’s spirit, and so became a living body.” The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself…. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven.

Elder Boyd K. Packer, who served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1994-2008, is attributed with saying, “that we are the children of God, that we lived with him in spirit form before entering mortality.”

This idea is like some Gnostic sects believing humans previously existed as angels and their spirits entered humans.

The Bible is clear that human spirits/souls did not pre-exist. In Genesis 2:7 we read the following: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Notice this scripture says nothing about the living soul having existed anywhere before. The scripture suggests there was no existence prior to this because it says man became a living soul. If we existed as spirits prior to our birth the scriptures would be worded much differently here.

Other scriptures that would lead one to believe we did not pre-exist include Zechariah 12:1 and Jeremiah 1:5.

Nowhere in the Bible is there any evidence of a premortal spiritual existence of man. But that is what Mormons believe. The LDS Church teaches that during the premortal existence, there was a learning process taking place leading to the next necessary step in the premortal spirits’ progression. The next step included the need to get a physical body that could experience pain, sorrow, and joy, and through which the spirit could “walk by faith.”

Believe it or not, Mormons think there is evidence for this in the Bible. They use Revelation 12, which discusses Satan being cast out of heaven with his angels. They think angels fall into three categories. The first is the spirits of people who have not yet been born into mortality on earth. The second is spirits of people who already have lived on earth. The last category would be people who have lived on earth, died, and subsequently been resurrected.

Obviously, I have a different understanding of the origin of Satan and angels because I stick strictly to what the Bible has to say. Mormons get mixed up because they are using the Bible along with three other books, they consider equal to the Bible. They also put a lot of emphasis on the words of their prophets which causes more confusion.

I don’t want to tell people what to read, but I’m noticing people in the Church are getting carried away by false scriptures (Book of Mormon, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, etc.). Please remember the Bible alone is the Word of God.

Sources:

“Premortal Life (Latter Day Saints),” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premortal_life_(Latter_Day_Saints)#:~:text=It%20is%20believed%20there%20were,sons%20and%20daughters%20of%20God%22.

The Kingdom of the Cults, by Walter Martin, (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1985).

“Gnostic theories of preexistence of souls make more sense of the problem of evil than orthodox Christianity,” https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAChristian/comments/1ck6w1f/gnostic_theories_of_preexistence_of_souls_make/

“What does the Bible say about the preexistence of souls?” Got Questions, https://www.gotquestions.org/pre-existence-of-souls.html

“What Do Mormons Believe About Angels,” Mormonism: Really Want to Know?, by R.S. Ghio, October 21, 2012, https://reallywanttoknow.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/what-do-mormons-believe-about-angels/

Why Pentecostal service and its enthusiasm and power is dying in many Pentecostal churches

By

Ogba Victor

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17 June, 2024

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The truth is not hidden, but as they say ‘none is more hated than him who speaks the whole truth’. We know it is a system that will increase our years of captivity and strengthen the darkness, but who can tell the truth? But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin. (Micah 3:8, NKJV).

Pentecostal churches are springing up here and there, tongues are so louder today. But in many churches and Pentecostal denominations, the Pentecostal experience is abysmally dead.

On Sunday the 26th of May 2024, the Christendom once again celebrated the day of Pentecost and many churches and denominations observed her annual Pentecostal service. This service is organized to celebrate the beginning of the Church which Christ birthed by word, labour, death, resurrection and Spirit. It is a day many Pentecostal churches pray and anticipate salvation of her membership and fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. For some, it is a day for re-filling of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Before now the service was a very high and hallowed spiritual Christian service. People prepared themselves, and came to church with much anticipation for the Holy Fire to come upon their hearts. Although we still hallow such days, its downhill spirituality and lowness are much shown today. The strong anticipation of God’s Spirit on such Sundays is fast dying. Why? Because it is very visible that God is hardly showing up to these services judging with the signs of His true visitations.

According to tales of those who saw God in the church of old, and if clear study will be made into the scripture, baptism of the Holy Spirit did not only happen on the day of Pentecost. It was an occasional move by God. He came whenever and wherever he chose to. But today, the Holy Spirit and His fire hardly comes to our churches. So we have come to pin his outpouring to the eventful day, and to anticipate his baptism on the day of Pentecost service.

The problem here is that we did not get to ask God about the problem: why he stopped coming on other days, on normal Sundays, and on other less hallowed services or gatherings. If God is not turning up at other times, if he is not showing up at our prayer meeting, or on regular Sunday services, why do we think he will come on a Pentecost Sunday?

Is the glory of God stronger because we are celebrating Pentecost Sunday, or is it because we are what we ought to be and also doing the things He has charged us? Which one makes the glory fall? And if God has withheld glory because we have failed him, as He once said to me “My servants have failed ME!” How do we think that in our continual failures, we would fix a special service and He will come? Is God an observer of special days?

I have been to many churches and I have seen that many Christian gatherings are so full of death. Take away the musical equipment and the death will become more visible. Dead song ministration, dead choir, dead worship, dead sermon, dead atmosphere, dead service. If there is death every time we gather in the name of God, how do we envisage that Pentecostal Sundays will be any different? Again, Is God an observer of special days?

God is not an observer of special Christian days or services, and he does not seem to show maximal strength on special days. If this statement is untrue then there should be great strength of God displayed, and souls poured into the kingdom of God on Good Fridays, Easter, and Christmas days. But it is not so because special days are not what pulls him down. And until we begin to engage in what truly brings down God and reduce our vain religiosities, we will never see God in our gatherings.

And it is because there is no outpouring on Sundays, weekdays or on Pentecostal Sundays that modern teachers and preachers who do not know the Pentecostal experience teach stuff like, “You are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit in you, begin to speak it. And as you continue, your language will begin to change.” This is Charismatic Bullshit! If it did not happen that way to the Disciples, not that way to the family of Cornelius, nor to those whom Apostle Paul prayed for, why do we think we can make a mockery of spiritual things?

We must be brutal in accepting that it has been so long since He came in great power, it is been so long since He moved, it has been so long since we witnessed true and genuine Holy Ghost revival, outpouring and baptism in our churches, we know it, the laity knows it, even the clergy knows it, but very few speak of death as death.

Myself is highly ashamed of being in a dead Pentecostal service. Yes! I hate being invited to such services which God is not part of. And If I were not a pastor, on such days I would hide in the corner of my room musing on how dead and cold Pentecost Sundays have become. It is not God’s fault, He is not slack in keeping to His promise, we simply have refused to follow the unfailing spiritual pathway that guarantees success in bringing down the power of God. And this is our guilt and judgement because we claim to know, but truly know nothing.

Now I will proceed to tell us why God is unwilling and unmoved, why the outpouring is scarce and why the power of Pentecost is weak in our days.

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:29, NKJV.

Jesus called Peter and the apostles with the command ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’. Thus, ‘fishers of men’ is the end product that Christ will make out of the apostles should they follow him. And not just only the apostles, but all who followed Him, who became his disciples, He also made ‘fishers of men’. The 120 in the upper room (Acts 1:15), Jesus made all of them fishers of men on the day of Pentecost. Apostle Peter threw his fishing net thereafter and caught 3000 men. When persecution fell upon the church, those who travelled far for safety continued to fish for men; For they were all fishers of men.

The idea of God is that the church should be a gathering of fishers of men. And the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the final initiation and enablement to becoming a robust and flavoured fisherman. Jesus equips his true followers with the power of the Holy Ghost which convicts sinners, and with fire that arouses undying desire to go out and catch some fish.

We must know that the kind of following Jesus meant when he said follow me, is the disciple kind of following. Not like the following of the little girl with a divination spirit in Acts 16:16. She indeed followed Paul but was doing her own thing. A disciple is a follower of the way, lifestyle and teachings of a spiritual leader. He does not do his own thing but that which he has seen and learned from his master.

So that when men follow Christ and become his true disciples, then God will turn them into fishers of men. And this will be exclusive of their secular job: They could be doctors or lawyers but still kingdom fishermen. The Apostles and pioneers of the early church did not fail to follow Christ’s doctrine and lifestyle till they became true disciples. And Jesus did not fail to keep his promise of turning them into fishers of men by baptizing them with the Power of the Holy Spirit according to the promise of the Father. The scripture below clearly agrees with this argument.

If ye love me, keep my commandments (words, instructions, way, discipline). And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:15-18)

So the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. (Numbers 32:10-12, NKJV)

Herein is the problem. The passage in Number 32:10-12 introduces us to two kinds of following: wholly following God and not wholly following God. Whole followers of Christ are his true disciples. They are fully and wholly following the teachings and commandments of Jesus. And Jesus will ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit; they will become empowered for service and fishing; this is the promise.

Joshua and Caleb wholly followed God and they saw the faithfulness of God in keeping to his promises. Those who did not wholly follow, God couldn’t fulfil his promises to them. So that when God begins to break his promises and will not keep to his words, even his promise of pouring out His Spirit upon our sons and daughters, even His promise of never to leave us like orphans, even His promise of being there where two or more are gathered in His name, it is a sign that God is dealing with men and women who have refused to wholly follow Him.

If He has become stiff in pouring out his spirit upon all flesh; and upon his churches, then true followers and disciples are very much scarce to fill; only they can be filled and empowered to continue the work Jesus left.

What we are trying to say here is that all of God’s promises has the ‘if you will fully follow me’ attached to them; including all his promises to his church. The promise of the Holy Spirit is not for the heathen, but for the Jews and all those who will come to God through the covenant of Christ.

In a time when we have a mixed multitude full of those who do not know and live the teachings and way of Christ. In a generation in which true disciples of Christ are very much lacking both in the clergy and the laity, in a time when many churches are not modelled according to the way Christ taught His church to be, there is no way there won’t be feedback from heaven shown by loss in glory, loss in the presence of God, and loss in the frequency of the visitation of the Holy Ghost.

Many churches and their Pastors have abandoned the disciplines of Christ so that God cannot keep to his promises. Remember that my God did not change, we simply disconnected ourselves from the free flow of God’s presence and visitation. And this is what is killing the society and our youths and teenagers.

For until spirit is poured out, we preach, teach and try to convert men in vain. We have wearied our youths and teenagers with dead sermons, dead prophecies and dead services. These sermons and services would have come to life should we have given the Holy Spirit a chance by being whole followers of the Lord. And after many years of seeing and interacting with death, our youths and teenagers eventually become dead and unresponsive to God’s light and life.

As it concerns society, know we not that the presence of God and his visitation is what saves and convicts sinners? Know we not that the society is twice or more the negative state of the church? If there is death and darkness in the church, the society will see greater death and darkness. So that when we have put ourselves in a shape that God cannot come down freely on us, we have also condemned the society to death and judgement. This implies that many who will be judged and condemned on the judgement day would have been saved if our following was whole. If we were a disciple church, following the teachings and ways of Christ, Satan would not have taken over the people. But we have failed! Many servants have failed God! Many ministers have failed the Church! And the church has failed the society!

In what areas have we as a church lacked wholesome following? Part 2 of this discourse will address this question.

Wicked Prophets with half truth – the bane of the kingdom planted by Christ, the tool of Satan against the Church

By

Ogba Victor

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11 June, 2024

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For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – 2Timothy 4:3

A beloved brethren of mine in America lamented on how she stayed years in a well known Pentecostal church in America and did not hear hell and heaven messages. That is, the kind of messages that search the soul of man and tries the heart of a believer. Sadly, she was later forced to move into an orthodox church in search for spiritual food cooked in the light of eternity. Oh! What times!

Listen, I’ll tell you the new tactical approach of the ‘decepticons’. They’ll preach on prosperity and riches and then they’ll collect money from my people. With the last 5 minutes or less they’ll call for those who want to surrender their lives to Christ. But note that they haven’t done a sermon on Salvation or eternity.

Salvation, hell, heaven and eternity sermons wouldn’t bring much money because the sinful churcher who gives money is hurt. So they sell the priceless soul of man for unjust gain.

And when the wicked market is sold, and the dead is made happy in death, they try to call to the altar, men whom they have not pierced with the true word of the God to give their lives to Christ. This is a cushion strategy not to look like prosperity preachers, but that is exactly what they are and have done.

To these evil men, God is blind. But the wicked shall not go unpublished says the Lord. In that day He shall treat priest with laity alike and the sinner shall not go unpunished.

The compromise is strong, and the exit from God in the Christian Church is gruesome. It is not just with the priests, but also the laity.

I have seen in the light of the Lord’s command and have come to notice that many people who say they belong to God do not really care for truth, nor do they care for scripture backed doctrines. They are in the Church to seek riches, prosperity, wealth, blessings, open doors and help.

They pray earnestly once in a while, not because they want to know God, but because they hope that after the prayers blessings will follow. And many would not pray until they’re in need of God’s help. They are in earnest pursuit of what God can offer but not God. There is absolute absence of the light of eternity in them. Their souls are ever longing for that which shall be of zero value in eternity.

The pursuit of God means nothing to many anymore and this is something I have seen among the people who say they belong to God. The true riches are hidden from us because we have sought for everything else but God.

Oh! Christian Church, if we want God when we gather, we must seek God alone. If God should come to our meetings, the things we seek will be met in His presence. Healing, breakthrough, open doors, miracles, gifting, anointing. Not only will it be met, the wisdom and understanding to manage them will come from the light of His countenance. For the God whom you seek shall suddenly come says the Prophet, Malachi. He shall not come until He has be sought by man and the Church.

…for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you…- Hosea 10:13

Whom shall we blame but the Shepherds who heal the people of my God slightly with half-truth. Who proclaim blessings for a people whom God has not blessed. Who prophesy to sinners; things that shall never happen they proclaim. They are more happy when the crowd is alive in echoes of amen than when a hell-bound soul is saved by God.

It is time to Return Back God. The people of God are perishing and the nations grow pale sick in sin and wickedness every second. What we need now are messages prepared in the light of eternity and not well crafted preaching schemed at our pockets. God is not happy!. He says to me, “Call them Back to God.”

I was in my house some months back as an evangelist ministered unto secondary school students. With the level of immorality in the society, one would expect a sermon that could guide them into God. One would expect a soul searching sermon that will help the outgoing class 3 students to pursue righteousness and Holiness with which they shall be lifted up.

What did he do? Blessings and prophetic declarations. And I asked myself; “What if any of these student die before the beautiful future he promises them?” Is there any other guarantee to man other than that “We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.”? Nothing else is sure. Not riches, nor wealth; not life, nor children, nor wives or husbands. No guarantee to these thing, but the Judgement of God is sure.

When shall we tell the godless youths and teenagers that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin a reproach?

Who shall tell my people that “God is angry with a sinner everyday” (Psalms 7:11)? And who shall exclaim from the wells of the Spirit that “The soul that sinneth shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)? Who?

These preachers think their work is to prophecy to my people, but my Lord had appointed His true servants – to make disciples of Christ in all Nations and teach them to obey the Lord. To be as light to the people and as teachers of wisdom to his sheep. To raise and establish children, teenagers, youths, men and women who know God and whose name are in the Lamb’s book of Life. But now is the Christian Church of today full of many without the true knowledge of God and His Word. This word was meant to heal them from sin and a rebellious spirit. As it is written;

…He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. – Psalms 107:20

But because this word is lacking on many pulpits and largely flipped by prosperity, blessings and open-door sermon, the spirit of rebellion and Hades overtakes the sheep of God. And the Lord says to me, ” My servants have disappointed me”.

Prophetic declaration is overrated! I’ll say it anyway though it may get me into trouble. Keep your prophecy of God giving me destiny helpers and show me the way to friendship with Jesus. Jesus can help me, Jesus alone!

Watch this:

https://youtu.be/zbtw6GrVANY

Oh! How the gospel of love is preached to those who have no idea about the coming judgement. Oh! The gospel of prophetic declarations to those who have one need:- to know God. Oh! The promise of God’s favour to those who are far away from the reach of God’s favour. Oh! The pitiful soul of a church goer who has no knowledge that he shall likewise perish. Oh! Wicked Prophets- the bane of the kingdom planted by Christ.

It is written:

“And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.” -Isaiah 56:11

Christian Prayer Awakening! This is how to revive your dying prayer life

By

Ogba Victor

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17 April, 2024

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Barely a month after I had traveled down to AGDSN Umuahia for pastoral and theological training, I began to notice signs of death plaguing my already strong prayer life. Back then I could not understand why someone who could steam for 5 hours nonstop would find it hard to pray for just an hour. This was my first experience of spiritual declination.

The scripture records that Samson awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. (Judges 16:20). This is how it was for me whenever I decided to make contact with heaven: the propelling synergy was no more. And due to much mechanical effort, 1hour became very difficult.

One evening, I knelt and cried to God saying, “Father, I am dying… I am too young to die.” Then I heard a still small voice say unto me, “Have you forgotten what I taught you?” Then I replied “Yes!“

Actually, what God taught me was how to hold and stay with prayer points; but I did not quite get it back then. There are many preachers who ignorantly attack praying with points. It is just out of plain ignorance on what praying in the Spirit truly means. Speaking in tongues is not the only way to pray in the Spirit. I’ll leave a video clip for more clarity.

When I replied yes, the Holy Spirit became silent; and after some moment I got up. The next time I tried to pray something different happened. It did not seem too difficult to pray anymore. So I bounced back from the state of dying to praying long and effectively.

It was later that I discovered what happened: It was sorcery which broke me. Due to the lack of stature at that stage of my Christianity I was overpowered by Satan’s agents. Something struck me in the Bible school and sapped my prayer life. All these things that fight prayer we will fully bring to light in this series.

Another experience is this – About 2years ago, I began to pastor a church as the assistant pastor. And within the first two weeks, I started to stutter in prayer again. Initially, I did not fully grasp that something was wrong until it was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit.

Before that time, whenever God woke me up to pray at night, there was a quickening that could not be effectively explained by words unless by experience. I would normally wake with a strong desire to pray. This desire is called burden. It is one of the things God installs into our operating system should he desire us to walk with Him in prayer.
This strong desire will be backed up with wisdom and fire. It is this wisdom that shapes our attitudes until we ascend and begin to flow in praying synergy with the Spirit.

Again wisdom to pray is a vital part of God’s software which must be installed into the praying heart. Wisdom is the principle thing; No man can pray without wisdom.

This particular case was not a case of losing fire, but rather it was a case of losing wisdom and strength in prayer. I would wake up as usual, but then instead of standing and heating up until my spirit connects to His Spirit, weakness and lack of wisdom would cause me to sit down or lie down and then return to sleep.

This is not me I silently acknowledged. I was a man of prayer and power, full of zeal, and always on steam and synergy with the Holy Ghost. What has happened to me? Only God could tell; only Him could help. So I went back to God for help.

The day I was done with stuttering In prayer I took up a prayer point. I made sure that I did not bother God with much request that day. I remember going to a pastor’s prayer meeting and everyone was praying mightily, speaking in tongues and all that. But as for me, I sat down and communed with God in my heart saying, “Lord help me I am dying, I don’t know what is wrong with me.” All through that day I continued to tell God the same thing. I said, “Lord revive me… revive me… please help me Lord.”

After the day was done, God woke me up at about 12 pm and by my God, I mustered 5 hours of prayer charge. That was it. All the weakness and foolishness of heart that plagued my prayer life was carried away. This personal awakening strengthened my faith in God as the one true revivalist.

I see those who are very eager to be called revivalists. I would not stop telling men that all our best efforts with the Holy Ghost can only motivate men to seek God. But until the Holy Spirit descends and begins a move in a man’s life, revival can never take place.

Revival is the pure work of the Holy Spirit. No man, no preacher can revive anyone even with all the prayer charge, hot sermons, and song chants.

After I was revived by God, shortly I was struck again. And it was the same symptoms of weakness and foolishness. But this time I spoke to the Lord, complaining about how I am back to struggling again after having been revived. As I was speaking, the Holy Spirit asked me a question: “Will you not go to the shoe mender as many times as your shoe spoils?” This reply became a strength to me. It is also the reason why I will never see spiritual death.

God had given me the code to cheat death. All I have to do is to always turn back to him for awakening, times of refreshing, and revival. What an amazing God we serve!

Brethren, I would like us to take a lesson on how I never allowed death to fully take hold of my spiritual life. How I would always cry out to God for help each time I noticed that I was dying. In fact I have taken a blow more than 5 times and with each case God has always proved himself able to raise the dead and dying.

Lessons from the Bible

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33, NKJV)

In the bible passage above, we see Peter whom Jesus had given clearance to walk on the sea just as He did. But as soon Peter saw the boisterous waves, his faith sank and he began to sink as well. Peter did not fully let himself drown but rather he exclaimed, “Lord save me!” When He called out, Jesus stretched out His hands and lifted him out of the waters.

When the revelation of this passage was downloaded to my mind, I knew that believers should not wait until death before calling out to Jesus to bring them back up from a fall in any area of their spirituality. There is a healer, a restore, a fixer, a revivalist, a defibrillator, and an awakening specialist in Jesus; we must learn to take full advantage of our Lord. And He whom the son of man shall set free from death is free indeed.

It is true that resurrecting what is dead is more difficult than reviving what is dying. So I encourage us all not to die but to leverage on the life-giving Spirit of God and revamp that prayer life so that we can again soar into the realms of the Spirit of God, in power and in glory; Amen!

Book: The Soul of a Priest by Leo Herbert Lehmann

By

Ogba Victor

-

26 March, 2024

0

“Papalism proclaims that all men have been redeemed by the sacrificial death of Jesus. Yet it has developed a dogmatic system that actually denies that redemption, even in another world, except to those who conform in every particular to its rules and regulations.

“It is more concerned about the doctrines and dogmas which it has evolved to preserve its external structure than in the saving message of Christ as set forth in the New Testament. Its basic defect is that it has restored a religious and social system which Christ severely condemned.

“It seeks to redeem mankind by a man-made system from which Christ freed us. It has restored the old fatalism of the Orient, which affirms that man is, and must ever remain, a mere creature of dust to be ruled to the end by external laws. It thus denies the sovereignty of the individual soul, the sonship of each with the Fatherhood of God, and of the full brotherhood of all men through Christ.” — Leo Lehmann, from The Soul of a Priest.

“The stirring odyssey of a soul thirsting after grace and truth.” — Agora Publications.

Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed.

Book Contents

Introduction
1 Conversions And Perversions
2 My Boyhood In Catholic Ireland
3 Seminary Days
4 Rome
5 Priest — By The Rite Of Rome
6 South Africa
7 My Duel With The Jesuits
8 America
9 Priestly Uselessness
10 “The Valley Of Achor”
11 My Clearing Vision Of Christ
12 The Call Of Conscience

Publication Information

Lutheran Library edition first published: 2020
Copyright: CC BY 4.0

Download eBook / PDF

Believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. The true meaning of II Chronicles 20:20

By

Ogba Victor

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10 February, 2024

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Believe His prophets, and you shall prosper

A young lady once said to me, ‘Pastor but the bible says believe in his prophets and you will be established’. She had noticed that a lot of the things being pronounced by many preachers do not come to pass. And the truth is that if the membership of Church starts to hold ministers accountable for their prophecies, many would be proven liars.

My Answer to her was quick and biblical. Now let us see the bible passage that talks about believing in prophets.

Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” (II Chronicles 20:20, NJKV)

The bible passage above says we should believe in ‘His’ prophets. If we believe in any preacher or so-called prophet who is not His own, sent from Him, speaking for Him, speaking His mind and having the Oracle of God (what God is saying now), we cannot be established by their ministry. If the prophecy is from man’s will, it shall not come to pass.

**For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21, NKJV).**

If men are speaking out of their own will, prophesying from their own minds and thoughts without clearly hearing from God, we are simply wasting our time and resource hoping that their ministry will prosper us.

If God is not speaking blessings, a true servant of God should not be speaking blessings. Sometimes God could be speaking curse, speaking rebuke, speaking warning, etc. The number one work of His prophet is to seek out what He is saying to His people, and to present His word undiluted. The word of God cannot fail!

I used to be part of a certain Pentecostal church in the past. And I remember being part of many services in which preachers who visited us prophesied great things to us. And some used their own tokens as a means to collect money from the congregation. Whenever it happens that I get called up to minister to the same congregation, I would tell them, ‘If we do not return to a praying Church, we will never see any growth’. And I kept telling them that the blessing of God is not only based on giving out money.

These bold words did put me in a lot of silent trouble with some people. But you know, after many months, all the sayings of the preachers who prophesied good never came to pass, even for those who gave a lot of money to claim the prophecies. Why? Because those prophecies where from the will of men and not from God. If you believe in it, even with all your heart, you will never see God at work in your life.

How to test, know, and differentiate a true man of God who is still in alignment with God from a false agent Part 2

By

Ogba Victor

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23 January, 2024

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Before we get right on with part 2 of one of the hottest posts on our blogging platform, I feel there is a need for us to know the true definition of a man of God. And just in case you have not read the part 1 of this treatise, see How to test, know, and differentiate a true man of God who is still in alignment with God from a false agent.

A man of God according to my definition which is also provable from the scripture, is a man formed by God, sent from God, backed by God, full of God and is on the side of God.

Now let us return to our discourse. What are other things you must look out for in proving the alignment of an acclaimed man of God?

9. IS HE ON THE SIDE OF GOD?

This matter is very delicate, and I can assure you that applying this test can help a lot in nailing the false prophets.

Now, we know that society has its philosophy about contemporary matters. The government may have its laws on what is acceptable or not. The public also has their own opinion on things, and the organization or family one belongs to could have their way of doing things. But a true man of God will always stand with his God.

Any day, any place, any time you walk up to him to inquire about a matter, his opinion, judgment and stance is that of God. This is why he is a man of God.

A true man of God is an ambassador of the way, truth and life of God. His stance on abortion is that of God. His opinion on sexuality, marriage, morality, governance and all issues of life is God’s opinion which is provable from the scripture.

If you find an acclaimed preacher whose opinion on a matter is his own, or who swings with the society, his organization, his government against God and solid biblical views, he is a false prophet period.

Raise a delicate issue like homosexuality and watch him stammer and stutter, trying to answer a simple question that is a Yes/No question. He is not a man of God.

I have seen some big American preachers stuttering at the simple question: “Is homosexuality a sin?”. And I don’t care if they call themselves pastors, apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, bishops or whatever title they have given themselves, it doesn’t change them from being false.

Being a man of God is not a title, it is a lifestyle, it is a commitment, it is a responsibility, and being true to that responsibility is what being a true man of God is about.

Also, being a man of God reaches down to our personalities and natural dispositions. When the Holy Spirit takes over a man, his human spirit becomes mingled with the Spirit of God such that he becomes Christ-like in thoughts, actions, will and lifestyle. The things Christ will love, he will learn to love, and the things Christ will hate, he will also despise. He will naturally stand on the side of God because the person of Christ is formed in him. This is what being a Christian truly means: Christ-like, God-like.

So, test him. If he cannot stand up for Jesus and be on the Lord’s side, that means he has not yet been formed like Christ, he is not even yet a true Christian, he cannot be a true man of God.

10. A true man of God must be a man of the spirit of God

No one is qualified to claim to be a man of God if he is not one of the Holy Spirit. Being a man of the spirit is shown in the fruits and temperaments of the Spirit. If he doesn’t show forth the fruits of the Spirit, question him.

11. A Church politician cannot be a true man of God.

If you see and have proven any acclaimed preacher to be a church politician, he is not true to the creed of true apostles of Christ, therefore he is not a true servant of Christ. He has also shown rebellion to the Lordship of Christ over His Church, and he has no fear of God; do not fear him.

12. Test if He is A full time believer, preacher and a doer of righteousness and holiness

From my short years in ministry, I have come to learn that no man hates messages on righteousness than those whose hearts are sold out unto iniquity and wickedness. They will fight it, cajole it and try to diminish the righteous way and life.

If he preaches against righteousness, he is false. Be wary and cautious when you are around a man who claims to be a man of God who does not believe in righteousness and holiness, who does not preach it and who does not live it. Run from any unholy preacher who hates to hear sermons on holiness and despises those who preach it. This is a major red flag.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

Do not be deceived, this is not how you know a genuine man of God. Learn How you are been deceived!

By

Ogba Victor

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19 January, 2024

0

Men of God remain God’s major tool in building His church and His kingdom on earth. They have been mandated to lead, direct, teach and coordinate the body of Christ on earth; even Satan knows this. And having known the strong role Men of God play in Kingdom business, Satan majorly uses the priesthood office in defiling and destroying the work of God. Satan knows that if the servants of God are seduced, defiled and dead, it would become very easy for evil, sin and darkness to take foothold in the church of Christ.

There is so much to say concerning the activities of Satan against God using the very same office that was intended to be used by God alone. Using this wing of the church of Christ, Satan has done generations of harm, and dealt heavy blow to the kingdom of God.

Satan is not succeeding in sending millions of believers to hell because God has allowed him to succeed, but it is majorly because many believers are ignorant of the wiles of the enemy, especially through those who claim to be God’s servants. The truth is that in this matter, the church of God is not firmly equipped.

Therefore, inspired by the Spirit of judgement, I have taken it upon myself to educate the pilgrim on the very things that could make one misjudge fake apostles as true servants. There are things you just cannot see and conclude that one is a true man of God.

When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die. They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives. -Ezekiel 33:3-5

You cannot know theme by their great speech and utterance

Having a strong ability in speech and utterance is a great asset. Many great and renowned men of God, both in the past and in the present are known for their great oratory abilities. But never you see fine and eloquent speaking resulting from great learning as a sign of being a true man of God.

Moses was not eloquent in speech, yet he was a true high prophet. Also, the disciples of Christ were not very schooled, and probably never had polished speaking. Nonetheless, they were powerful instruments of God. Take a look at the below scriptures.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. – Acts 4:13

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” – Exodus 4:10

It is good if he speaks nice and has great English. It is even better if he is an orator. But these things are not to be seen as a measure of who is true or false.

You don’t know them by their message

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14

There is no way Satan can creep into the sheepfold and successfully deceive them if he appears as Satan, we must acknowledge this. He has to masquerade himself as an angel of light by doing, speaking, and acting as a true messenger. And immediately the eyes and light of curiousity stops searching him out, then will he strike like the serpent that he is.

Therefore, do not imagine that anyone who preaches righteousness and holiness, and calls on the name of the Lord is automatically an angel of God. Do not conclude that those who have the ability to present the scripture with dexterity are genuine.

Bishop Eddie L. Long who once was a pastor of over 25,000 congregation, whose books are littered over various Christian libraries, and who was a well-established TV preacher was accused by many of his former congregants of sodomy. And do you know, at the time that he was molesting the young boys, he was also preaching and teaching Jesus whom he knew not. NYTIMES

Ravi Zacharias was accused of sexual misconduct after he passed away. It was so bad that after investigations, his team apologized to the victims. He was engaged in this lewd and evil act against God although he was great in Christian apology and evangelistic ministry.

One time in a church I used to be part of, a retired minister was invited to preach. He preached on repentance, heaven and hell. I also remember him preaching greatly in our church when I was still a teenager. But you see, this minister is a murderer according to the revelation of God’s Spirit. He is an agent of darkness and was a wicked church politician during his ministry years.

His wicked lifestyle didn’t deter him from preaching the truth. What were we expecting him to preach? That Satan is God? Even those who worship satan in secret, on climbing the Christian pulpit, declare that Jesus is Lord, even though their hearts are far from Him. Beware! Do not be deceived.

You don’t know them by their giving or charity

One of the greatest deceitful schemes of Satan going on in Africa today is the act of using charity as a means to deceive believers. The deceivers can only succeed in an economy of ignorant believers.

Concluding that a man is a true prophet of God because he gives out a lot of money in church service is like concluding that a genuine politician is one who gives arms and does charity in public.

It is true the Bible says that our good deeds to people should be done in the secrete, but I do not desire to enter into this argument right now. I just want to point out that Satan is an old gamer and that there is no tool he will not deploy, there is no form or shape he will not take just to give him the much-needed penetration into the lives of believers in Christ.

Take note, I am not condemning the charitable deeds of these men in their churches, neither am I in any way calling out those who do these things as false teachers or prophets. Just remember that:

Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. – Matthew 24:4

You don’t know them by their testimonies

When we have reverential fear for God, it makes us run far from sin. I cannot ever think of climbing the pulpit area to say, “Thus says the Lord” when the Lord hath not spoken. This is out of great fear and dread of the God of the ancient. And sometimes we blindly would think other people would also have this fear for God, but no!

My Dad spoke of a man of God whom he invited for a ministration. A time came when he began to testify of the great things God had done through him. The people who heard rejoiced in awe of the great power of God. Just then, the Holy Spirit spoke to my dad, telling him that the stories were all lies. And my dad wept.

A deaconess told of a man who was invited to preach in a church. After the sermon, he raised a lot of money for the church. But when he was given his honorarium, he rejected it. Why did he reject it? The preacher said, “Do you guys know the kind of lies I told just to get this money?”

Many Christians of today are not after the true gospel of the kingdom. They very well like to be told ear-pumping stories and to be made happy. Whether the things hear are true they do not care to know.

Are testimonies of God’s power still real? Yes! God has not stopped doing mightily in our time. He is still a miracle-working God. What I am trying to say is that the heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful. Do not listen to his testimonies and stories and conclude that he is a man of God. He could be lying and looking for a victim to victimize.

Sometimes, these testimonies made to make them seem as genuine could be true, but they could have also fallen away from God, making them old prophets. Therefore be ye shrewd as the serpent and innocent as the dove. For there is no length Satan cannot go in order to deceive us, especially if we are ignorant of his devices.

Never you be deceived by their dressing and appearance.

So, Samuel did what the LORD said and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” I Samuel 16:4

In the times of old, the prophets of God were not men of gorgeous apparel and men of great appearance. They lived in the mountains, far away from active socialization. On the mountains of self-seclusion, they spend a lot of time in seeking the face of God to know the will of God for the people. And whenever the prophets descend into the midst of the people, men tremble, and hearts are troubled because they cannot tell the purpose of the visitation, whether it be for bad or for good.

Now because these prophets had no need of active socializations, their appearance was ruddy and lacked much polishing. In those days it was easy to perceive a prophet by their appearance. This was how the Shunamite woman figured out Elisha.

And she said unto her husband, behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passeth by us continually. 2Kings 4:9

In those days, some men who were not prophets also put on rough garments and appeared ruddy like the mountain dwellers. The false prophets dressed and appeared just like the true prophets of God, but their ultimate mission was to deceive the nation of Israel and to lead them far away from God. Take a look at this prophecy by Zecharia.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive. Zechariah 13:4

From the later part of the scripture above, one can deduce the point I am trying to exact here. “…they wear rough garments to deceive.”

Now just as the scriptures say in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “…nothing is new under the sun.”, let us be very alert to know that the same thing that happened in the past is happening today.

There are clothings created specially for those who serve as priests or men of God. These clothing include white-collar shirts, Bishop neck shirts, Bishop suits etc. Others add a cross neck chain to their dressing, and the Catholic ministers put on white robes. Many denominations have specially decorated garments for their bishops and pastors. Christian, in judging who is true or false, let these things be far from your focus.

Another truth is this: today the priestly office is more financially capable than the former days. Men of God now dress in style today, and they put on rich and expensive wears. Even those who are very much new in ministry are looking to get some expensive clothing just to look good and nice for the eyes. Today you will easily hear things like, “You need to look like what you preach”, “If you are not blessed you cannot be a blessing to others”.

The standard of any generation becomes the tool of deception by those whose aim is to deceive. Today, the fake apostles also appear in great conditioning. They put on nice and costly suits and other goodies of fashion to appear to be the blessed of the Lord. And with this, they penetrate a crowd that believes that you judge a man of God who can bless them based on his great appearance and how rich they are. But the anointing does not reside in apparels, clothing, or in bank account.

I once had a conversation with a young man who believes that if a man of God is not greatly or richly dressed, he is not worth being listened to; because a man who is not blessed by God cannot bless him. We must bear in mind that the blessings of a man of God do not come as that of others.

Many servants of God are from humble beginnings, and by their years of labour will God enlarge their pockets. The Lord does not look at the wardrobe when he calls a man, and he that is called poor cannot immediately become rich; he has to put on what he has and can afford until he can do better. We must learn that the financial standing of Men has nothing to do with the anointing and grace they carry. If what the eyes see is your judgement of true apostles and servants of God, then you are already deceived.

Do not let large following deceive you

Finally, you must not be deceived by the large number of followers any preacher may have. Ever since the days of God’s mission work upon the earth, the genuine servants of God have never been widely accepted, especially in a vile and wicked generation. And ours is grossly wicked and evil. The more wicked a generation is, the less following a genuine servant of God will see.

In Acts 5:36, Theudas who was a deceiver was reported to gather about 400 followers. The number was much higher than the followers of Jesus despite that Jesus was true and Theudas was false.

This in no way means that those who have a large following are all false. No! But do not follow the crowd into error. Yes! One person can be right about a thing millions of persons are wrong about. To be safe you must look at it, test it, and judge it based on biblical standards before you jump at it.

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen!

BACK2GODOutreach.ng

BACK2GODOutreach.ng

THE ORIGIN OF THE MORMON CHURCH

Pentecostal churches are springing up here and there, tongues are so louder today. But in many churches and Pentecostal denominations, the Pentecostal experience is abysmally dead.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – 2Timothy 4:3

…for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you…- Hosea 10:13

Who shall tell my people that “God is angry with a sinner everyday” (Psalms 7:11)? And who shall exclaim from the wells of the Spirit that “The soul that sinneth shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)? Who?

…He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. – Psalms 107:20

“And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.” -Isaiah 56:11

God had given me the code to cheat death. All I have to do is to always turn back to him for awakening, times of refreshing, and revival. What an amazing God we serve!

Lessons from the Bible

Book Contents

Publication Information

Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” (II Chronicles 20:20, NJKV)

For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21, NKJV).

9. IS HE ON THE SIDE OF GOD?

10. A true man of God must be a man of the spirit of God

11. A Church politician cannot be a true man of God.

12. Test if He is A full time believer, preacher and a doer of righteousness and holiness

You cannot know theme by their great speech and utterance

You don’t know them by their message

You don’t know them by their giving or charity

You don’t know them by their testimonies

Never you be deceived by their dressing and appearance.

Do not let large following deceive you

**For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21, NKJV).**