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JESUS CHRIST and JOSEPH SMITH
COMPARED One of the hallmarks of Christian doctrine is that regarding the concept of humility; the realization by the true Christian that submission to God and the recognition of a person's poverty of spirit and lostness apart from complete dependence on God is necessary to stand in the presence of God. Those who wish to present themselves to God, through their own accomplishments, self-assurance, self-proclaimed and defined righteousness, will find that they will stand before God barren, naked and void of the spiritual qualities necessary to be seen as right with their Creator. True humility is a necessary component of the ingredients that prove and reveal those that are true disciples of Jesus Christ and have authentic saving faith. "For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being," declares the Lord. "But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word." The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.Because everything is from God, including salvation, pride has no part in Christian conduct and is not a part of the kingdom of God. And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."Instead of pride being a virtue and a quality to be sought and about which a person should boast, it is instead a barrier against the realization that a person is poor in spirit and incapable of being right with God. "Until a soul is humbled, until the inner person is poor in spirit, Christ can never become dear, because He is obscured by self. Until one knows how helpless, worthless, and sinful he is in himself, he can never see how mighty, worthy, and glorious Christ is in Himself. Until one sees how doomed he is, he cannot see what a Redeemer the Lord is. Until one sees his own poverty he cannot see God's riches. Only when one admits to his own deadness can Christ give him His life." Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished.Joseph Smith, the first president, prophet and seer of the Mormon church, had a high and prideful opinion of himself such that he compared his accomplishments to those of Jesus Christ. As a result of his preoccupation with his own self-importance, he came to the following conclusion: If they want a beardless boy to whip all the world, I will get on the top of the mountain and crow like a rooster. I shall always beat them... 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. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet."The pride of Joseph Smith shows that far from the Mormon church being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith wished to see the church as the Church of Joseph Smith of Latter-day Saints. But, his high opinion of himself goes even farther, as he places himself in the position of a god to the members of the church: Is not here one greater than Solomon, who built a Temple with the treasures of his father David and with the assistance of Huram (sic), King of Tyre? Joseph Smith has built his Temple with no one to aid him in the work." God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in His stead, and the elders to be mouth for me; and if you don't like it, you must lump it.The second president and prophet of the Mormon church, Brigham Young, was also a great admirer of Joseph Smith and said the following about him: Well, now examine the character of the Savior, and examine the character of those who have written the Old and New Testaments; and then compare them with the character of Joseph Smith, the founder of this word... and you will find that his character stands as fair as that of any man's mentioned in the bible. We can find no person who presents a better character to the world when the facts are know than Joseph Smith, Jun., the prophet and his brother Hyrum Smith, who was murdered with him." ...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of god without the consent of Joseph Smith... Every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance... I cannot go there without his consent. ... He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven.Every good Mormon should be afraid, because their entrance in the celestial kingdom is not dependent on their works, but on the approval of Joseph Smith, who has absolute control over who has entry. He apparently can make a decision to allow or disallow entry based on his sole authority, regardless of the acceptability of the person, even if that person has obeyed the doctrines and teachings of the Mormon church. Mormon adherents should be afraid, because the character of Joseph Smith is not as advertised and glorified in the church history books. THE CHARACTER of JOSEPH SMITH
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. Acknowledgments Ideas, quotes and information obtained from: Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Utah Lighthouse Ministry - www.utlm.org The Mormonism Web - http://mormonism-web.com ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: On This Website: Jesus Christ The Jesus Christ Of The Bible Is Different From The Jesus Christ Of The Mormon Church Other Resources: The Utah Lighthouse Ministry, Jerald & Sandra Tanner The Mormonism Web Alpha & Omega Ministries, James White |
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