In this sermon, the speaker discusses the uncertainty of knowing the exact timing of God's prophetic calendar and the last days. However, he suggests that the current state of the world indicates that we may be in the last of the last days. The evidence for this is the prevalence of self-love and selfishness among people. The speaker emphasizes the importance of standing up for the defense of the gospel and for Jesus, as exemplified by the apostle Paul. The sermon also touches on the topic of cults and isms, specifically focusing on Maori Mormonism as one of the cults being examined. The speaker concludes the sermon with a prayer, expressing gratitude for the truth of God's word and worshiping the Trinitarian nature of God.

2nd Timothy 3, and we will look together at the first couple of verses. We are continuing our studies in the Bible class on what one preacher at least called Maori Mormonism. It is in association with our overall subject of cults and isms, but this is the second of the cults that we're going to be looking at. Mormonism, or as it is fancifully called by that organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Let's read 2nd Timothy 3, the first couple of verses. This know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come. And I just want to pause to say we should understand that the last days is not necessarily just the last short period of time before Jesus comes. But we know that the last days as a description is given to that period of time even when our Savior was upon the earth right until the end of time. Because as we read in, for example, Hebrews chapter 1, it says there that God at sundry times and in divers manners, that means at different times and in various ways, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. And there's a verse in 1 John which says, little children, it is the last time. So even in those apostolic days, it was classed as the last days. However, we could go outside Scripture and use an expression that some have used, which is the last of the last days. And I think you have to be sensible about it. Though we don't know the future, we don't know at what point we're at in God's prophetic calendar. Some people think they do, but we don't know where we're at. Nevertheless, there will be that period that you could call the last of the last days, the closing days of redemptive history. And surely when we see the things that we see in the day in which we're living, we have to say, we think, and that's as far as I'll go, we think we're in the last of the last days. We're certainly getting toward the end of something whenever you look at the things that are happening in the world. But however, here's the important point. Verse 2, for men, here's the evidence that we're in the last days, perilous times, for men shall be lovers of their own selves. That's certainly true today. People love themselves. It's all about number one. Forget about everybody else, where many are concerned. Covetous, covetousness shows itself in various ways, from folks that do the lottery to people who go to Atlantic City to people who steal and who burgle. There's all sorts of ways that covetousness manifests itself. A covetousness is a desire to have something that doesn't rightfully belong to yourself or to desire more than you have right now. It's a manifestation of discontent. Covetous, the desire to have more. Boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents. You've only to go to the grocery store and look at some of the nonsense that goes on to realize that that's the day that we're living in when there's a lot of that. Tremendous unruliness, unthankful, unholy and so on. It goes on to say in verse 5, Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. From such turn away. And there are many, many different cults and false religions that could be described in that way. They have a form of godliness. When you look at them, they look right. They have the right appearance. They're very presentable. They almost, in some cases, do look like Christians. They have a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. And not just denying it by the things that they teach. Denying it in the way that they live. Denying true godliness and the command, the precept is, from such turn away. We're looking at the commencement of Mormonism. We've talked about Joseph Smith who was the founder of that organization which calls itself the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After the killing of Joseph Smith and indeed his brother, the president of the organization became a man known as Brigham Young. Brigham Young still gives his name to the great university out there in Utah. Brigham Young had actually been in Boston on business when the shooting of the Smiths occurred. And he returned to the place where the Mormons were located out there in the Midwest to assume leadership of the followers of Smith. There were a number who refused to accept him. There's always a power struggle when one man disappears off the scene. It's a bit like politics, you know, the knives come out and you've all these people that want to be Caesar. There were a number who refused to accept Brigham Young and they chose Joseph Smith's son as their prophet and their leader. This group, with the exception of the Utah Mormons, that's the official bunch, is the largest of the many branches of Mormonism, and possibly you didn't know this, there are many different branches of Mormonism, I suppose all of them claiming to be the true successors of Smith. But this largest bunch is still in operation today and they're called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And they follow what they call the original teachings and commandments of God and they deny that polygamy was ever taught or practiced by Joseph Smith. And that is just so incredible as to need no refutation because the fact of history, Joseph Smith himself actually apologized for his teaching of polygamy in his early days. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but they actually have their headquarters at Independence, Missouri. So they're still pretty much of the mindset that Christ will come back to Missouri. They believe that the gathering to Zion before Christ's return is going to take place right there in Missouri. Within Mormonism, there are many factions all claiming to be the true Mormon church. For example, you have a group called the Temple Lot. That's not my name for them, that's their own name. The Temple Lot. They're called the Church of Jesus Christ Temple Lot. With about 3,000 members, it was founded at Bloomington, Illinois. They returned to Independence, Missouri and began raising funds for a Temple Lot upon which to erect the Temple of the Lord for the day of His return and the gathering of the 10 supposed lost tribes of Israel. Now this particular dissenting group rejected baptism for the dead. So that sets them apart from the mainstream Mormons. They also rejected the elevation of men to the state of gods after death, which the Mormons are very strong in their teaching on. And they also rejected the practice of polygamy. There was another group quaintly known as the Bickertonites. I don't know whether it was because they're always arguing with each other, but that's what they're called, the Bickertonites. They were organized under a man called Sidney Rigdon. Another was the Cutlerites. Again, I don't know where they got that name from, but they were organized in 1853 with one congregation in Independence, Missouri and the other at Clitherall, Minnesota. Another group was known as the Strangites. And the founder was James A. Strang, so we know where they got their name from. He was actually crowned king of his church in 1850, but he was murdered in 1856, unfortunately, during a rise of anti-Mormon feeling in the Great Lakes area. Brigham Young was a very strong, self-willed individual who apparently was given to fits of ruthlessness. He was a born leader and did not suffer any insubordination to his rule. He didn't suffer any kind of second-guessing of his position. Now, whenever he was notified by the state of Illinois that the Mormons would have to leave Nauvoo, under Brigham Young they made plans to move west. And there is actually today a Mormon trail that you can follow through the United States right out to Utah. Apparently the Utah Mormons, before they got there, faced a lot of hardships along their journey, but they eventually arrived at Salt Lakes Valley in Utah where Brigham Young exclaimed, this is the place. And because he said it was the place, end of story. That was it. So he then proceeded to locate the site of the proposed new city, which is since known, of course, as Salt Lake City, ten miles east of the lake. It has been the headquarters of the Mormon Church ever since. And if you ever get a chance to go to Utah, you'll see how all pervasive the influence of the Mormon Church is, particularly in that city. Brigham Young presided over manufacturing and retail enterprises as well as vast farming undertakings. He became a wealthy man. But on his death, he was succeeded by one John Taylor as president of the organization. Now we should say something about not just the history of the Mormons, but most importantly about their doctrines. There are various doctrines under which we could place things like polygamy and their rejection of the deity of Christ and so on. We're going to be going through some of those teachings as we go through this particular study. But just to say something first of all, or by the way, about the practice of polygamy. The connection between this belief, the fact that you can have more than one wife, have many wives, and the whole structure of their doctrine is undeniable. Now many Mormons will try to poo-poo that whole issue of polygamy. They don't really want to talk about it. When they come to your door, the missionary men, usually you have them in twos, one more experienced and one less experienced, and they come to teach you about their doctrines and try to get you into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They usually don't really want to get into this issue of polygamy, but if they're pressed on it, they will. And they will, in my experience, defend it. I have never met a Mormon missionary in my life, and I've met lots and lots of them. I've never met one of them who would deny or would speak against the practice or the belief in polygamy. And that's not surprising when you study Mormon doctrine, when you study their creed, because the connection between polygamy and the whole structure of their organization and their doctrine is beyond denial. The fact that in 1890, it was necessary for one Wulford Woodruff to publish a manifesto stating, My advice to Latter Day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land, has not actually changed Mormon belief that it was a divine mandate of Joseph Smith and an everlasting covenant, sanctioned and fortified by Brigham Young and other leaders of the organization. Just because someone came out and spoke against it for the purposes of keeping on the right side of the law, doesn't mean that it's not part and parcel of their core belief system. The fact of the matter is that Mormons have always regarded the United States government's position on polygamy as, quote, an affliction to the saints. It's an affliction to the saints. It's not something that they really want to submit to, but because the Supreme Court of the United States sustained this position, the Latter Day Saints church was forced to submit to that statute, but they never felt that it was within its power to suspend a, quote, commandment given to them by divine revelation. That's still the position of the Mormon church. If you press them on it, they will admit to it eventually. Now, there's evidence to suggest that early Mormon polygamists were encouraged by various violent and vicious means. When the Edmonds Bill 1882 became law in this country, it made punishable the contracting of plural marriages and polygamist living. The Mormon president John Taylor actually went into exile and died in exile. Now, the federal law could be enforced and Mormons were historically jailed for unlawful cohabitation. There have been some recent cases, even in Utah, where the law of the land has actually come down on the practice of polygamy. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence, and I think there's probably more than that, for the authorities in Utah turning a blind eye to the practice of polygamy. Of course, in this day and age, when there's so much promiscuity and there's so many people shacking up together, as we would put it, it's becoming more and more a thing that is able to be practiced, I suppose, if you could put it that way, without having too much eyebrow-raising among the authorities. But, of course, officially this is wrong. It's against the law to do it, but there are Mormons who still practice it. Now, when Woodruff's Manifesto appeared, which was against polygamy, Mormons actually faced a dilemma. The problem being that having taught and approved of and encouraged polygamy officially for many years, in accordance with their Doctrine and Covenants section 132, and that's still freely available to read, the Mormons found it necessary to rescind the belief. They had to, because they were forced to, because of the position of the federal government and the law. But Woodruff said his Manifesto was the result of a revelation. And yet the, quote, saints, that's the Latter-day Saints, had to decide whose revelation to believe. By the way, if you ever get a book of Mormon, which I wouldn't really recommend, if you did get one, I have one, there's a book in there called Jacob 2, 2nd Jacob, or Jacob 2, verses 27 and 28, and it's pretty clear from that, that polygamy is supported very strongly by the Mormon Church. But despite attempts to stamp out polygamy in that organization, it has continued through the generations to spring up again and again in Mormon circles. I remember one night, back in Scotland, my wife and I watched a television special program on some Mormons in Utah, and it was absolutely disgusting. It was disgusting. Some of the things that were exposed by that investigative journalist, it was incredible. I'm not going to go into it today. But suffice to say, the Mormon Church is a filthy system. And it doesn't surprise me that that is the case, because the Bible speaks about spiritual fornication and adultery in the same context as it does physical adultery and fornication. The Bible puts the both of them together. In fact, if you, just for a moment, care to look at Galatians chapter 5, Galatians chapter 5, you will see there that the works of the flesh are, Galatians 5, 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry. You see that? It's interesting, isn't it, how that the Lord actually puts in there this list at the beginning of physical sins, and then He throws in there idolatry. Because after all, and if you study the Old Testament, you'll see whenever the Lord was condemning the idolatrous worship of the Israelites, He always spoke of it in terms of adultery and fornication. And if you read the book of Hosea, you'll see that that's very, very clear, that spiritual fornication and physical fornication and adultery are very much linked together, because that's what idolatry is. False worship and false religion is just like when it's practiced by someone who professes the Lord's name, it's like taking another wife that doesn't belong to you and committing adultery with her. That's how the Lord always describes it. That's how He always speaks of it. So, it's not surprising that some of the most idolatrous systems on the face of the earth have been the filthiest of organizations. And what comes to mind is the book of Revelation and what it has to say about Romanism. It's so clear. Doesn't it say in Revelation 17? "...Come hither, and I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication." And then it goes on to speak of mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. It's not surprising that where idolatry reigns supreme, false worship reigns supreme, there also follows the most filthy sins of the flesh. But of that, some other time. The creed of Mormonism includes, most particularly, their view of the Godhead. Now, this is most important. I think I said at the beginning of our study in the cults that the hymn, What Think Ye of Christ is the Test, really sets it out very, very well. When it says, What Think Ye of Christ is the Test, to try both your state and your scheme, you cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of Him. And this applies to all the cults and the false religions. You can bring them under this common denominator. They have false views of the Godhead. And when you're wrong in dealing with the head, you're going to be wrong in everything else. Mormonism denies the Trinity, for example. And yet, Mormonism teaches a plurality of gods. Mormonism is, therefore, a system of polytheism. That is, more than one god. They teach a plurality of gods, and yet there are many statements in Mormon writings, strangely, that seem to affirm belief in the unity of the Godhead. So again, you see the hypocrisy of the system. For example, in the Book of Mormon, and you can check all this out if you have the references, the book known as 2 Nephi, chapter 31, verse 21, here's what it says, quote, And now behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, which is one God without end. That sounds pretty Trinitarian to me. But if you show that to a Mormon missionary, he somehow manages to bounce off that away into something else. It's incredible how that plain, clear statement of their own belief, they can just trash that and move on to something else to try to further their cause. It really is quite incredible, because I've done it. I've used some of these materials and said to Mormon missionaries, well, there's your book of Mormon, let me just turn this up for you and show them. It doesn't make any difference. It's as if they've put on blinkers, and they can't see anything. And then they just move on to something else. But of course, the ironic thing is that statements like the one I just read there in 2 Nephi 31, are nullified by later, quote, unquote, revelations denying that teaching. And yet, they haven't ripped that out of the Book of Mormon, they've left it there. It's still part and parcel of their teaching. So that shows a glaring inconsistency between the so-called Book of Mormon, which is supposed to be the most correct of any book on the earth, and the later revelations of Joseph Smith. All you can assume is that he must have had a change of mind about the Godhead. But they don't tell you that. They don't say, well, Joseph Smith later found out that the Godhead, the doctrine of the Godhead was correct, after all. That the doctrine of the Trinity was originally correct, but now it's no longer correct. They don't tell you any of those things. They just conveniently suppress that information. And that's the subtle thing about many of the cults. They don't really care whether they lie through their teeth or not, it doesn't matter, because if it serves to further the interests of the organization, that's all that matters. The end justifies the means, presumably. Now, the Mormon church teaches that God the Father had a father, and he had a father, etc., etc. And they are on record as teaching such a thing, which, of course, is the ultimate blasphemy. It's blasphemy to say that somehow God had a father and then he had a father, etc., etc. Brigham Young said, and I quote, How many gods there are I do not know, but there seems to have been many gods. It appears ridiculous to the world under their dark and erroneous traditions that God has once been a finite being. Now, that's blasphemy of the worst kind. And it's in print, in the Journal of Discourses, page 333. Brigham Young is on record as stating this. And he says, No matter how ridiculous it might seem to everybody else that God was once a finite being, there it is. That's the truth. And here's what he says. Of course, you can, as you look at Scripture, realize how satanic the doctrine is. Because he went on to say, Man is the king of kings and lord of lords in embryo. Isn't that amazing? In other words, man is God, and God is man, but man is God. And all of us, if we were to join the Mormon church, we would rule with all the rest of the gods for all eternity, and would continue to propagate and have children to multiple other goddesses or gods throughout eternity. It's a filthy, blasphemous system. Now, let me show you a couple of Scriptures before we finish today, because it's good to know what the Bible says to cleanse our minds and hearts of this filthy doctrine. Isaiah 43 and Isaiah 44. Isaiah 43, verses 10 and 11. I don't really care, on one level, what the Mormon church teaches, because I know it to be false. But I do care, on another level, because I care about my God and my Savior. I believe that God can defend His own reputation, that's for sure. Old Spurgeon used to say, You don't have to defend a lion that's in the cage. All you have to do is get the key and open the cage and let the lion out and it will defend itself. And our God is well able to defend Himself. But nevertheless, does the Bible not tell us about Paul? He said, I am set for the defense of the gospel. The Lord expects us to stand up for Him. As the hymn says, Stand up, stand up for Jesus. And that's what we're seeking to do against all error. Now look, Isaiah 43, 10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. This is the critical statement. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. So this idea, this nonsense, that there's all these different gods and God had a father and he had a father and so on, is completely unscriptural. He says, Neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, I am Jehovah, and beside me there is no Saviour. And that's repeated largely in Isaiah 44, but if you look at Isaiah 44 and verse 6, here's what it reads. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. There is no other God but one, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mormon doctrine concerning the Godhead is wicked, it's evil. We're going to be looking at it in some more detail next time, and sometimes when I read these things it's very hard to stay cool. It's very hard when you read some of these things to not be indignant, and I think we should be indignant in the right sense. We should be angry at error whenever it's presented particularly dressed up in Christian clothing. When someone comes along and tells me, I am a Christian, I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and then they come out with this garbage. It really is almost beyond description. But there it is. These are their doctrines, these are their teachings, and it is our purpose in these messages to expose what they teach. I trust the Lord will help us to stay with what the book says, not with what men think, or what some so-called great man in the past thought or said. If they speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. We're people of the book. I trust the Lord will help us to, as one man said, go by the book, B-U-Y, and then go by the book, B-Y. We should always go by what the Bible says and not what men think. And I trust the Lord will help us as we study further in Maori Mormonism. The Lord will give us a holy hatred for that which is against what His word teaches. We'll leave it there now. Let's all pray. Father, again, we thank Thee for the truth of Thy word. We thank Thee that Thou art God, that beside Thee there's none else. We rejoice in Thy Trinitarian persons. We thank Thee, Lord, for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that these are not three gods, but one God in three persons, blessed Trinity. And Lord, we worship Thee today, Trinity in unity. And unity in Trinity. Lord, help us to stand faithful to what Thy word teaches despite all error. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen and Amen.