by Bud Press, Director

Christian Research Service

www.christianresearchservice.com

February 19, 2008

Over the years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to witness to Mormon missionaries, bishops, and laymen. Occasionally, the Lord even opened the door to Mormon missionary houses, where six Mormon missionaries could be seen firing questions in rapid succession at one Christian.

I assure you it was a wing-dinger. But the odds were in my favor. I had the Holy Spirit and the truth of God's word on my side.

While I can't recall the number of Mormons I have witnessed to since my ministry began in the early 1980's, I do recall one particular witnessing session that stands out among the rest, where I wondered if the young Mormon I was witnessing to was really a Christian.

The session involved only myself and two missionaries, one who had just began his mission, and the other--a seasoned veteran--who was completing his two-year mission and returning to Utah.

After a few minutes of chit-chat, the veteran missionary asked if he could open with prayer. I kindly said "No," and added that I alone would open and close with prayer. They agreed. 

The missionaries were courteous, polite, and patient. After my prayer, the veteran missionary took the lead and began asking questions. He was well versed in the history of Mormonism and The Book of Mormon, and provided pat-answers to my questions in rapid-fire succession.

Towards the end of the witnessing session, which lasted over two hours, the veteran missionary began sharing his "testimony," saying that The Book of Mormon was the restored gospel; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; and that the Mormon church is the only true church.

With tears streaming down his face, he looked me square in the eyes and proclaimed his love for Jesus Christ. He was very convincing, and had me entertaining thoughts of, Am I doing the right thing? Could this young man  actually be Christian? Is he an exception to the rule?

I stared at his smiling face for a few moments, then realized I was being lulled into placidity--not by God the Holy Spirit, but by the same subtle, deceptive  "Jesus" proclaimed by Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith.

I looked into the young man's eyes and said, "Which Jesus?"

Immediately, the smiles the missionaries had maintained for over two-hours  melted from their faces.

"What do you mean, 'Which Jesus?'" the veteran missionary asked.

"I'm glad you asked," I said, and I took the opportunity to share the gospel and explain the following Scriptures from the King James Version Bible (which, along with The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, is recognized as one of the four standard works of the Mormon church):

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:6-9). 

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him...For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:3-4; and 13-15).  

After pointing out the fact that The Book of Mormon is, according to the Mormon church, "Another Testament Of Jesus Christ," and that the Apostle Paul warned the churches in Galatia and Corinth about "another Jesus," the missionaries seemed puzzled, and acted as if it was the first time they had seen those passages of Scripture.

After closing with prayer, I thanked the missionaries for knocking on my door and welcomed them to return. Still puzzled, they smiled, walked outside, and spent about 10 minutes discussing the passages from Galatians and 2 Corinthians.

After the missionaries rode-off on their bicycles, I put a stack of witnessing tracts on Mormonism to good use and distributed them door-to-door throughout my neighborhood. Later, I learned that God had blessed my efforts by using the tracts to inform and prevent people from studying with the Mormon missionaries. 

During the witnessing session, for a brief moment I had encountered Joseph Smith's "Jesus"--the same, subtle, deceptive "Jesus" the Apostle Paul warned about; the same "Jesus" that hasn't the grace and power to save a sinner from eternal separation from God; the same "Jesus" that laughs at precious souls for whom the real Jesus died for. 

Had I been ignorant of God's word and uninformed about Mormonism, I may have been captivated by the missionary's sincerity, and seduced by Joseph Smith's "Jesus."

You can be the nicest, most sincere person in the world, but if you die with Mormonism's "another Jesus" on your lips, there will be no second chance. You will spend your eternity totally separated from God. There are no exceptions to the rule.

There is only one Jesus Christ. To accept the "Jesus" of Mormonism is to deny the Jesus of the Bible:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life (John 5:39-40).

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins

(John 8:24).

It was a lesson I have never forgotten.

Recommended reading:

What the Truth Is About Mormonism: What You Have Not Been Told

Are Mormons Christians?