Matthew 16:16-19; “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”.

You’ll want to keep the passage of scripture above in mind today as we go through this week’s lesson.  The title for this lesson is “A Kingdom Which Shall Never be Destroyed” and their purpose is to “strengthen class members’ testimonies of the restored Church of Jesus Christ and encourage them to help build the kingdom of God on earth”.

The lesson is based on several passages in the book of Daniel and the vision he interpreted. As you might imagine Joseph Smith’s interpretation of the King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is quite different from that of Daniel’s.

The class is instructed to give their own interpretation of what the phrase means from Daniel 2:44-45;

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure”.

Apparently the Mormons believe this to mean the Mormon gospel is the stone cut without hands and nothing can destroy it. D&C 65:2 reads;

2 The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth”.

They’re also reminded through the LDS apostle Joseph Wirthlin that Mormonism isn’t a church of men and that Jesus is the head of their church. Ensign November 1993, p 5  

Let’s review:

Joseph Smith is the founder of Mormonism

The name of the Church is:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The name of the Church implies it is of “Latter-day Saints” so that would negate their claim it’s not made of men. Furthermore, is Jesus of the Latter-day Saints? If this Jesus is of the Latter-day Saints that means this Jesus isn’t of God! A house divided cannot stand as His word says.

Mark 3:24-25; “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Brigham Young stated many times that the kingdom of God was being built up by the Mormons and he (Brigham) being the governor of Utah, was also crowned “prophet, priest and king” of the Kingdom of God just as Joseph Smith had been in his lifetime. The Council of the Fifty and Its Members, 1844 to 1945, p 20 by D. Michael Quinn

After they were given their “true” interpretation from the passage in Daniel and reminded the Church is of God, they’re given a series of LDS membership statistical charts to look at “proving” the LDS Church is the only true church on the face of the earth.

Besides the fact the charts they provided are skewed, the Bible tells us that many are called but few are chosen so having the professed 15m members means nothing to the Lord. Matthew 22:14.  If you’d like to see the real numbers of church membership you can do so at Mormoninformation.com

Islam has around 2 billion members so if the number of adherents prove authenticity then Islam must be true.

At the end of their lesson it asks how Daniel’s prophecy is being fulfilled through their church and quotes Daniel 2:34-35 which says the kingdom won’t ever be destroyed.

“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

To summarize, if the “Great Apostasy” really took place as the LDS Church claims then God is a liar and so is Jesus. The promises made in Daniel and Matthew can’t be true if Mormonism is true.

Moreover, the Church lied when they said it (Mormonism) wasn’t made of men. Their own records prove the leaders of Mormonism are the liars, not God or Jesus!

If you’re LDS we’re asking that you take a look at the facts and if nothing else think about the name of your church. What is it saying?

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor 1:18