Mormonism's Living Prophets ... pt 1

. . . and their mysteries!

I often visit with LDS friends who love to discuss temples. Standing thirteenth in line from Joseph Smith, Gordon B. Hinckley leads the way for temples. The Midwest has eight. So what is mysterious? The question is, what happened to the four that were revealed by Joseph Smith?

1) INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

AN INDEPENDENCE TEMPLE

Doctrine & Covenants 57:1-3

1 HEARKEN, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is the land of Missouri, which is the land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints.

2 Wherefore, this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion.

3 And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place; and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the court-house.

Dated July 20, 1831. The missing temple is not to be confused with the temple in St. Louis. Noting his wisdom here at its best, Joseph Smith established the exact spot.

PRESERVED IN MISSOURI

Doctrine & Covenants 62:6,9

6 Behold, I, the Lord, have brought you together that the promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoice together in the land of Missouri. I, the Lord, promise the faithful and cannot lie.

9 Behold, the kingdom is yours. And behold, and lo, I am with the faithful always. Even so. Amen.

Dated Aug. 13, 1831. Would God lie about preserving them? Is it evident that God was with them? Picture any people rejoicing while fleeing. This deity was not to be trusted and yet has claimed the LDS to be my church (vs. 1). The head of the LDS is not Jesus according to the D&C 28:6-7. What kingdom? History from 1837-1847 demonstrates that this revelation was a total failure.

POSSESSING ZION

Doctrine & Covenants 69:8

8 Preaching and expounding, writing, copying, selecting, and obtaining all things which shall be for the good of the church, and for the rising generations that shall grow up on the land of Zion, to possess it from generation to generation, forever and ever. Amen.

Dated as Nov. 1831. Generations rising from these people are to possess it forever? Fast forward and all can see what happened. God's Word always stands to last forever, but Joseph's could not last a generation. (Psalm 119:89) If Joseph Smith is right, then he is right for all eternity, but if he is wrong he is wrong for all eternity.

TEMPLE DEADLINE

Doctrine & Covenants 84:1-5

1 A REVELATION of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted up their voices on high.

2 Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem.

3 Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased.

4 Verity this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation.

5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until the house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, and shall fill the house.

Dated Sep. 22-23, 1832. Must we really charge Jesus Christ with this false prophecy? Restoration? If this is New Jerusalem, where are the 1400 mile walls (Rev. 21:14-16)? Did Independence citizens see God's Shekinah Glory? Can the LDS church find men over 170 years old to slap its brick and mortar? If God appointed it, Joseph Smith's generation has to build it. Men claiming to speak for God can lie, but God never lies (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2). The Community of Christ or RLDS built a modern temple, but on the wrong spot. Another Mormon sect, The Church of Christ - Temple Lot, has the right spot and the markers from Joseph Smith's dedication service on Aug. 3, 1831, but no temple. They won't sell it to the LDS. We hear, what is a generation? Surely never by any standard over 100 years or up to 170! Mormon Apostle George Q. Cannon said 30 years (JD 10:344; 11:269; 13:138 & 362; 17:111). Orson Pratt confirmed this to mean the 1832 generation. (JD 9:71; 10:344; 13:362).

And what prophets? (Vs. 2) The true prophets always opposed error (Deut. 13:1-5; 18:20-22; Jer. 14:14; 23:16-32; 27:15; Zech. 13:2-5; Mat. 7:21-23; 1 John 4:4). But their purpose in prophesying is past until the Great Tribulation prophets (Heb. 1:1-2), just as building temples is a past covenant (Mat. 27:51; Acts 7:48; 17:24; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 7-10; Rev. 11:19; 14:17). God's more sure word of prophecy is the Bible (2 Peter 1:19), giving us history in advance with precise and observable details hundreds of times.

CHASTEN AND REDEEM

Doc. & Cov. 100:13-15

13 And now I give unto you a word concerning Zion. Zion shall be redeemed, although she is chastened for a little season.

14 Thy brethren, my servants Orson Hyde and John Gould, are in my hands; and insomuch as they keep my commandments they shall be saved.

15 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church.

Dated Oct. 12, 1833. Language cannot be stretched far enough to make any of it true. They lost! Such fantasy, like comforting Americans with a promise that the USS Arizona would be blessed and redeemed at Pearl Harbor.

ZION - NO OTHER PLACE

Doc. & Cov. 101:17-21

17 Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.

18 They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion--

19 And all these things that the prophets might be fulfilled.

20 And, behold, there is none other place appointed than that which I have appointed; neither shall there be any other place appointed than that which I have appointed, for the work of the gathering of my saints--

21 Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them; and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion.

Dated as Dec. 16, 1833. The preface explains that they were driven from their homes that November. Why didn't they return with their children for otheir inheritances? To fulfill what prophets? Was it fully populated before settling Utah? Brigham Young claimed Utah is Zion (J.D. 2:253) but the future tense disqualifies it in verse 20.

PREVAILING FOREVER

Doc. & Cov. 103:6-7

6 Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail against mine enemies from this very hour.

7 And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord their God, shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my feet, and the earth is given unto the saints, to possess it forever and ever.

Feb. 24, 1834. Immediately - until it is complete! The chapter notes read, The redemption of Zion shall come by power, and the Lord will go before his people. The time span came, is gone, and yet continues forever. God revealed in the Bible is never weak and never deceptive. "Ye shall know them [false prophets] by their fruits" [false prophecies] (Matt 7:15-20). [ My brackets ].

THE POWER OF THE GUN OR THE POWER OF GOD?

D&C 103:15-17, 20-21, 25

15 Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power;

16 Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel.

17 For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm.

20 But I say unto you: Mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.

21 Verily, verily I say unto you, that my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., is the man to whom I likened the servant to whom the Lord of the vineyard spake in the parable which I have given unto you.

25 And whomsoever ye curse, I will curse, and ye shall avenge me of mine enemies.

Dated Feb. 24, 1834. The LDS were led to think of the war as initiated by God. Like the Roman Crusades, Joseph Smith led his army to Zion's Camp. (History of the Church, 3:39). But they failed, including the promise to possess it (vs. 20). What does that confirm about verse 21? Are we to curse (vs. 24) or to pray for our enemies (Mat. 5:44)? The contradictions mount. See the June 22 bait-and-switch (D&C 105:13-15), saying as I said do not fight, I will fight your battles. Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and to lay waste mine enemies. Joseph Smith and the Mormon army got out there and failed. Why was that destroyer so slow if he was already sent? Why did the LDS keep disobeying that command as that god failed? Why were the enemies of this deity never destroyed as we see their descendents living there today? What kind of a god ever gets defeated in battle? Why were the LDS driven out in five years? Why was Joseph Smith dead in ten?

Determining whether Joseph Smith was a true prophet is quite easy. He said on February 1835, "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 wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left" (History of the Church, Vol.2, p.282). Was he right? And shortly before his death, he preached, "I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. . . . Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it." (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 408-409). And he died! Look around and we find a hundred sects and divisions of Mormonism.

Part 2 will be post Wednesday March 7

Article submitted by Charlie Carle charliecarles@yahoo.com