And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17

THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD

Volume 20, Number 51
10/14/2018

Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ

Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692

Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM

Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday

Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers

Editor......Joe R. Price

Elders
Morris Bass
Rich Brooks

Deacons
Aaron Bass
Shane Bass
Mike Finn
Dan Head

In this issue:

• Naming Mormons
• Sermon Outlines:
  • Learning Obedience
  • Your Relationship with Jesus
• Noteworthy News: WA Death Penalty Thrown Out

Naming Mormons
Joe R. Price

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has undertaken ending something their leader says offends Jesus and pleases the devil. He is directing members no longer to use “Mormon” as shorthand for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to President and Prophet Russell M. Nelson, who spoke at the Church’s 188^th Semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City, the church’s name “is not negotiable” and using its full name “is the command of the Lord.” (“Members ‘offend’ Jesus and please the devil when they use the term ‘Mormon,’ President Nelson says,” Peggy Fletcher Stack, Scott D. Pierce, and David Noyce, The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 8, 2018).

Just a day earlier the LDS faithful had been told their Sunday services would be reduced from a three-hour block of meetings to two hours. When Trewhella, a Mormon bishop in England heard the news he exclaimed, “Hallelujah!” (“Mormons rejoice at news of shorter Sunday services, but the move will pose challenges to some, especially single members,” Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake City Tribune).

Well, we can agree on one thing. We too are convinced the term “Mormon” offends Jesus and pleases the devil. The real reason for this is where we depart with the LDS Church, namely, because it is not the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9). Their alternative name does nothing to cease the offence to Christ or the devil’s pleasure.

We (and they) use the name “Mormon” because they follow a book named after a man whom we are told was a prophet who lived on this continent long, long ago. Perhaps their prophet and apostles should change the name of the book that their flock as with Mormon.

As for shortening their worship services, that seems to be a common theme of churches these days, including some churches of Christ. We grant the length of worship is a matter of expediency. At the same time, we are interested in a Scriptural investigation of what enables less worship and less hearing God’s word preached to be more edifying for the church (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 14:26; cf. Neh. 8:1-3).

The New Testament warns against turning to a different gospel that perverts the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:6-7). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a different gospel to the world. Here is a brief look at some of their teachings in contrast to the Bible.

1) A different God. The Bible says God is spirit, eternal and unchangeable in nature (Jno. 4:24; Psa. 90:2; Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:6). Mormonism teaches God was once a man on another world who progressed to godhood. (Oh, and you can, too – if you are a male member of the LDS Church.) Joseph Smith, Jr. said, “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret” (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, VI:305). So, it is curious (to say the least) that the Book of Mormon says God does not change (Moroni 8:18; Mormon 9:9-10). The God of Mormonism is not the God of the Bible.

2) A different Jesus. The Bible says Jesus is “the Word” who was with God and was God in the beginning (Jno. 1:1-2). He is the eternally existing One, the “I am” (Jno. 8:57-58; Exo. 3:14). He became flesh, conceived miraculously and born of a virgin (Lk. 1:30-31, 34-35). Mormonism teaches Jesus was “the first Spirit Child born to God the Father in pre-existence” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 281). They teach “Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers" (Ibid, 546-547).

3) A different church. The Bible says the church of Christ was built by Jesus after His ascension to exaltation at God’s right hand (Matt. 16:18-19; Mk. 9:1; Acts 1:8; 2:32-41, 47). Mormonism teaches the church has existed since the days of Adam. “Soon after Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, an angel appeared to them and taught them the gospel (see Moses 5:6–9). The Church was also organized and Adam was baptized in water the same way we have been instructed to baptize today (see Moses 6:64–65)” (“Lesson 2: The Priesthood from Adam to the Restoration,” Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood: Basic Manual for Priesthood Holders, Part A (2000), 9–15).

4) A different temple. The Bible says God does not dwell in temples made by human hands. His temple is His church – the redeemed ones (Acts 7:47-50; Eph. 2:19-22; Heb. 12:23). Mormonism teaches their temples are “Holy sanctuaries wherein sacred ordinances, rites, and ceremonies are performed which pertain to salvation and exaltation in the kingdom of God…They are the most sacred places of worship on earth; each is literally a House of the Lord, a house of the great Creator, a house where he and his Spirit may dwell, to which he may come, or send his messengers, to confer priesthood and keys and to give revelation to his people” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 779-780).

5) A different gospel. The Bible says the gospel was “once for all” delivered, and that it is an “incorruptible” seed (Jude 3; 1 Pet. 1:23). Mormonism teaches there have been episodic apostasy and restoration of the gospel from Adam to the present. “Since the gospel was first given to Adam, each time it was thereafter lost by apostasy and then revealed to man again has been a restoration of the gospel” (Ibid, 634). The faith did not “depart” – people depart from the faith (1 Tim. 4:1).

More could be said, but this is enough to establish Mormonism is a different gospel. A name change will not change that (Gal. 1:6-10).

You can find the complete outline of this sermon plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at BIBLE ANSWERS

Learning Obedience
Joe R. Price

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3:1-12

1. Obedience is not inborn, it is learned through instruction, training and practice, cf. Heb. 5:8. (learned: the basic meaning “to direct one’s mind to something”) Obedience is a choice, Josh. 24:15.
2. Proverbs 3:1-12: Exhortations that lead to true wisdom.

I. EXHORTATION TO OBEY, 3:1-2.

A. Obedience Begins by Remembering Instruction, 3:1; 1:8; Deut. 8:11-14; Hos. 13:6; Micah 3:11.
-Promise (2): Life and peace, 3:16-18.

II. EXHORTATIONS BUILT UPON OBEDIENCE, 3:3-12.

A. Kindness and Truth (3). (Psa. 89:14) God is kind, Rom. 2:4; Titus 3:4.
-Promise (4): Favor and high esteem before God and man. Lk. 1:30; 2:52

B. Faith (5). 1 Cor. 1:9, 18-25; 2 Pet. 1:20-21.
-Promise (6): God will direct (smooth) your paths, Psa. 119:173-175.

C. Humility and Reverence for God (7).
-Promise (8): Complete spiritual health, Eph. 1:3; 6:10-11.

D. Honor Lord with Your Possessions (9).
-Promise (10): Abundance from the hand of God, Deut. 28:8; cf. 2 Cor. 9:8.

E. Accept Discipline from God (11). With blessings also come adversities. We learn obedience through them, too (Jesus).
-Promise (12): We are God’s children receiving His love, Prov. 13:24; Heb. 12:4-7.

Conclusion
Obedience and path of wisdom, Prov.3:13-18.

You can find the complete outline of this sermon plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at BIBLE ANSWERS

Your Relationship with Jesus
Joe R. Price

Scripture Reading: John 14:19-24

1. Faith is personal (it involves you personally). And, it involves Jesus personally, Gal. 2:20.
2. While relationships with Christ are taught and explained in the Scriptures, the expression “personal relationship” is not in the NT.

I. THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS, 1 Jno. 1:1-4.

A. By Walking in the Light (Practicing Truth), 1 Jno. 1:5-7.
B. By Having and Keeping His Commands, 1 Jno. 2:3-6; Jno. 14:21-24.

II. SOME OF THE RELATIONSHIPS CHRISTIANS HAVE WITH JESUS.

A. Jesus is Our Teacher, Lk. 6:40; Jno. 13:13f; Matt. 28:19-20 (Jno. 14:21).
B. Jesus is Our Lord (Master, Ruler), Jno. 20:28 (Acts 2:34). Lk. 6:46; Col. 3:17.
C. Jesus is Our High Priest, Heb. 4:14; 2:17; 10:19-21; 8:1; 4:14-16; 10:21-22; 7:24-25; Rom. 8:33-34.
D. Jesus is Our Brother, Heb. 2:12, 17 (14), 11-13; 3:4-6; Gal. 4:4-7; Matt. 12:49-50.
E. Jesus is Our Friend; Jno. 15:14; Jas. 2:21-23 (Heb. 5:8-9).
F. Jesus is Our Shepherd, Jno. 10:11, 14, 27-29

Conclusion
1. Every description of the Christian’s relationship with Jesus is conditioned on our obedient faith, not on experiencing the so-called “indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ within the spirit of the Christian” (Ibid).
2. Through His gospel, when we live by faith, obeying His will, we have fellowship with Jesus (He lives is our hearts through faith), Eph. 3:17

NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the light of Scripture)

WA Death Penalty Thrown Out
Joe R. Price

On Thursday the Washington State Supreme Court “struck down the state’s death penalty…ruling that it had been used in an arbitrary and racially discriminatory manner” (“Washington justices toss death penalty as arbitrary, unfair,” AP, Rachel LaCorte, apnews.com). In the lead opinion, Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst wrote, “The use of the death penalty is unequally applied — sometimes by where the crime took place, or the county of residence, or the available budgetary resources at any given point in time, or the race of the defendant,” adding, “Our capital punishment law lacks ‘fundamental fairness.’” (Ibid)

According to this ruling, because the death penalty has been unfairly applied, the law itself must be eliminated. When capital punishment is abused, the “fix” is to get rid of the law. How utterly illogical. Which other laws will be next? Abuse of a law does not demand the law be removed.

Gov. Jay Inslee (who imposed a moratorium on executions in 2014) stated, “The court makes it perfectly clear that capital punishment in our state has been imposed in an ‘arbitrary and racially biased manner,’ is ‘unequally applied’ and serves no criminal justice goal.” (Ibid)

In contrast to the governor and the WA State Supreme Court, the Bible says capital punishment is not used in vain, ought not reflect bias when applied, and serves the cause of justice (Rom. 13:4). The Bible says justice must be speedily and impartially applied (Eccl. 8:11; Deut. 1:16-17).

Righteous laws are not to be blamed when people use them unrighteously. Yet, at times people reject the Bible because they have seen it used unrighteously. Truth is still truth, even when frail and fallible people misuse it (Eph. 5:17; Jno. 17:17; 8:31-32).

There is an even greater death penalty awaiting those who refuse to repent and obey the gospel (Rom. 6:23, 17-18). God’s law will judge us all in the last day (Jno. 12:48; Rom. 2:16; Rev. 22:12). His law will be applied impartially (Rom. 2:1-11). God’s law will be exonerated, not nullified, on that day (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:11-12).

The Spirit's Sword is a free, weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
Send all questions, comments and subscriptions to the editor at: ssword@bibleanswer.com