Heart of the Matter ESPRESSO!
Welcome to Heart of the Matter ESPRESSO! broadcast live from Salt Lake City, Utah, where we do all we can to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m Shawn McCraney, your host.
Show 22 551
Striking the Root – Part II
May 23rd, 2017
Let’s begin with a Prayer.
A Common Experience for Many
Got an email that represents many that we receive in a number of ways. Let me cover them. It’s from Trace who writes:
I was born and raised LDS, (mormon), I went on a mission, got married in the temple. I read the book of Mormon 5 times all the way through and listened to it many times also, I always believed it to be true, but since doing some of my own investigation and finding you on YouTube (among other people like Sandra Tanner, Grant Palmer, Lee Baker, and others) I no longer attend church, my wife is very active and won’t listen to me.
What are the best books to prove all the problems with the Church? I am truly grateful, that people like you care about truth and honesty.
For those of you who have never been LDS this part of the email represents the most common circumstance people who discover the truth about Mormonism face – they are alone in their discovery. I meet with or speak to people weekly who are in this situation and it is heartbreaking.
Can you see what this religion does to people – I mean it is insidious. They tell you that it is the ONLY true church on the face of the earth, they get everyone on that bandwagon and then they protect this stance through the subtle implementation of a number of controls, and then when one person discovers the truth, they literally get CRUSHED by the response – even from their own spouse.
The Impact of Loneliness
This leaves the questioner VERY alone – as they have built their life around the church and its members. And so they see the truth but nobody in their circle of influence will join them. It is so, so, so lonely – and what it does is cause the questioner to seem lost, irrational, and bad. He goes on and explains another fallout from the Mormon way, saying:
“I’m not sure how I can ever accept Jesus into my life again, as I feel very hurt by the deception and fraud of Joseph Smith and the church perpetuates.
Leave the Baptist and become a Methodist? So what? Even when someone leaves Catholicism for Presbyterianism, it’s not THAT big a deal. But notice how many who leave Mormonism leave Jesus too. This speaks to the insidious nature of the religion and NOT to the individual leaving it. It’s because the religion is NOT about representing and teaching Jesus to their members; the religion is about keeping their members in the RELIGION – through their insidious ways and means.
You know I really despise most organized religions because most of them, to some extent, echo these same ways – which are deplorable in helping humans to be FREE in Jesus.
Critical Views
But I effing HATE the Mormon institution. I ran into a noted LDS Church historian the other day. An expert on Mountain Meadows Massacre and you know what he said.
He said,
Mormonism began as a criminal organization – and it continues to be the same – it’s out to prey upon the assets of others, pure and simple.
Some of the assets they strive to control are an individual’s time, devotions, their very life, and the things that make up human life – their assets, their thoughts, their individualism, and their inalienable right to openly question all things.
Trace continues with one hell of a line, saying:
“No one will listen to me, in my family or friends, just for once I wish someone would ask me why I don’t go to church anymore.”
Isn’t that sad? He wants all who once cared for him to continue to care for him as he now is – a man questioning. But Trace doesn’t realize that it does not work that way in Mormonism. You are loved ONLY AS LONG as you play by the rules. Question them and the love – even simple interest in your person will end. Even and often from your own spouse.
This is another built-in response that comes from this sick religion – when someone really questions, they are cut off – and the religion has made sure all of its participants
The Challenge of Leaving and Finding Faith
Trace wraps the email up, apparently coming to an inner understanding of how he feels and says:
“Well I guess I just feel very lonely. My Bishop wants me to read the Book of Mormon again and pray about it.”
And we come to the final manipulation that hovers over every single person who leaves or distances themselves from the church – the choice of either remaining lonely and true to themselves OR admitting that they were wrong, the church and the BOM or whatever is right, and to REPENT and come back – to the Mormon way of doing things.
The BOM couldn’t be wrong, Trace – so you are. Joseph Smith was a prophet, Trace – so you need to rethink your position. Thomas S. Monson IS the living Prophet on earth – reaccept this or be lonely, lose your former friends and possibly lose your family. The wonderful thing that remains, Trace, is you know you are right. You have that to cling to. But for most this is not enough – so they cling to the tenets of the institution and the people who follow it.
There is always a choice in life, my friend. Every single one of us who can think have it offered up to us constantly – seek and live the truth OR settle for the lie – in whatever form it comes. For you, the lie is Mormonism. For others its Catholicism, or some other denominational allegiance or faith. Some embrace the lie of fame and fortune, or that life that waits just over the hill. For many it's drugs, or just an overall pursuit for the things of this world.
In every arena we are all constantly forced to choose the lie and all of its demands OR to choose the truth and be cast out from the swelling ranks. But know this – you CAN choose to pursue Jesus and Jesus alone. He NEVER casts you out. He never abandons you. He will never make you conform to what other men want. Like everything else in life, the choice is . . . and will forever be, yours.
A Moment from the Word
Penn Jillette, an ardent atheist of Penn and Teller fame, once said something I want to challenge tonight. He said: “Love and respect all people. Hate and destroy all faith.” Like any good lie, his words contain some truth, some things that draw us in and make us want to believe his Words.
He leads off with, “Love and Respect all people.” Sounds good, right? I mean, any real Christian is about love so how could this be wrong? Not sure it can. I think we are called to love – especially those we differ with or those who mistreat us. So, good job, Mr. Jillette.
Love Versus Respect
But respect? Hmmmm. That’s taking things to a new level, isn’t it? We are to respect all people? I’m not so sure that is an ideal we want to pursue nor is it one I think will benefit our world. Are we to respect child-rapists, people who beat old-people to death, people who blow up buildings for their pet cause.
I think that maybe Mr. Jillette has overstepped himself here and his grasp on wisdom. But it sounds nice, right? Can we love others and NOT respect them? Certainly – if love is true love because true love is sacrificial and is displayed when we might rather not love someone – so of course we can truly love those who we truly do not respect.
But then we come to the second part of his quote:
“Love and respect all people . . . HATE AND DESTROY ALL FAITH.” I mean if this isn’t a statement of religious zealotry I don’t know what is!
Faith and Love in Christianity
HATE AND DESTROY ALL FAITH? I am not going to even take the time to describe how illogical this second line is relative to the first, but I do want to reiterate how in the Christian world it is OUR faith that allows us to LOVE. The goal of the Christian faith is to promote, encourage and develop true faith in God to the end that there will be an increase in true love for Man. True faith in God would be prefaced by true love for Him (the first commandment) for who would or could have faith in someone or something they do not love?
Understanding the Christian Pathway
“Loving God” leads to having more and more faith in Him and His words and ways. Of course, this is reciprocated because the more we trust Him and His ways, the more we love Him as well. In any case, this seems to be the Christian order (if you will).
First, we come to know Him. Then we come to love Him. Then we have faith in Him and His words. And finally, we can love others. This seems to be the general Christian order of things. If we don’t know Him, nothing else is possible. So knowing Him is first, as Jesus said, “This is life eternal, to know Him, the only true and living God and His Son whom He has sent.”
The Order of Knowing and Loving God
Once we know of Him, we will love Him. This is the first great commandment. We cannot love what we don’t really know. That isn’t real love. Genuine love is based on actual knowledge, not perceived ideas or feelings. Then if we love Him, we will place our faith in Him and His commands. If we don’t love Him, we would not choose to place our faith in Him. And we cannot love what we do not know, so in order to truly place our faith in Him, we must first KNOW HIM, then LOVE HIM, and then HAVE FAITH IN HIM.
The Nature of God's Love
Only after these things are in place are we prepared and able to actually love others in the way that God commands. If and when our human love is in operation, there is good and there is selflessness, but such love has limitations – if not large, then at least to some degree. The love God gives is limitless, unconditional, and never fails. When humans “love” others without Him in the mix (as Gillette suggests), that love is often selfish, conditional, limited, and directed only to those deserving of it. Rarely will humans exhibit a deep and abiding love toward those who reject them, harm them, and refuse their advances.
In this way, God’s love is markedly different than man's. And again, for God’s love to have a chance to work in us, knowing Him, loving Him, and having faith in Him must all come first. For example, God’s love is directed to all, including enemies. This is uncommon from the heart of man. But God commands that we “love our enemies, and bless those who abuse us, and to do good to those who despitefully use us.” How? Can the average human being do this on their own? Rarely is it possible.
Faith and Love in Action
However, IF we have placed our faith in God (because we love Him, because we know Him), then when He tells us to “love our enemies,” we do it – by dying to our will and ways and seeking His by FAITH, trusting Him that this is the way to live. Through this, we can see that we must first have faith in Him for our love toward others to manifest. Now, if we reverse this and we say to ourselves, “You know, I really don’t believe God when He says that I should forgive and love my enemies,” then we can see that the reverse is also true – the less faith WE have in Him, the less love we will have for others.
And in this, we find a relationship to our love for Him as well, for if we tell ourselves that we don’t believe in His command to forgive and love all people, then what we are really saying is we really don’t love Him (because we don’t really trust His words and ways) and if we don’t love Him enough to trust what He says, then what we are really saying is, we don’t know Him – and we are left facing the original words of Jesus: “This is life eternal, to know the only true and living God and His Son whom He has sent.”
Through this, we find a corollary – “KNOWING GOD leads to LOVING GOD which leads to TRUSTING GOD which leads to LOVING OTHERS.” What Gillette is suggesting through his comment is the errant thought that if we destroy faith, we will love better. This might be the case in people who have faith in a hateful God – but it is wholly illogical to true Christianity. With that, let’s take a look at this:
RUN SPOT FOR ART
Okay, we are striking at the root and are showing how the few within
The Gospel: Good News Misunderstood
Religious circles seek to wrap and trap the many up by twisting up the things we all freely possess through the victory of Christ. And tonight we are going to begin by simply showing how religion has taken the Good News and rearranged it in various ways in order to serve itself.
Understanding the Gospel
What is the Gospel, anyway? I’m not going to go through the way the word came about through the Latin and the German but let’s just look at the word in the New Testament Greek, shall we? The Greek word translated Gospel is YOO-ANGEL-EE-ON and it was taken from the Greek term, YOO-AN-GHEL-ID-ZO which is a compound term derived by EU – which means “well or good” and Angellos, which means “Messenger.” So from this word for messenger bearing Good we then get, YOO-AN-GHEL-EE-ON which simply means, a good message or good news.
AGAIN, Gospel means GOOD NEWS or a GOOD MESSAGE. So, many many denoms and religious folks claim to preach the Good Message – but what is it? How is it defined?
Interpretations of the Gospel
The Mormons claim a corner on the Good News and their version says something to the effect that Jesus came and suffered for sin and you can take advantage of his suffering by believing that Joseph Smith restored Jesus' church to the earth, and then receiving their baptism, their holy Spirit by the laying on of their hands, membership in their church, the opportunity to pay tithes, receive the priesthood, serve the church, follow their prophet, attend their temple, wear their garments . . . and . . . and . . . that does NOT sound like good news to me.
The Presbyterians take the good news and filter it through a lens created by guys like John Calvin. Their good news says that God sent his son to only suffer for the few whom God elects to eternal life – and the rest are elected to eternal suffering. That only sounds like good news to a few – so how could it be “good” . . . news to the world?
See, the news that is good was, from what I can tell in scripture, good news delivered to the world – so what news would be good news to all the world?
Of course, the BIGGEST caveat relative to the Good News is that it is good ONLY if it is received. If it's not received, then many many many people who claim to understand the good news, believe that the Good News becomes very bad news – and people are going to suffer like hell for not embracing what could be good. This is the standard, non-theological view of God’s Good News in the world of Christianity – God so loved the World that whomsoever would receive His Son received Good News while those who reject Him are the recipients of the Good News gone bad.
The Good News for Israel
I would like to offer up tonight how I believe the New Testament defines the Good News in context of that day – and ours. First of all, the Good News was first to the Jews who had been promised a Messiah. What wonderful news for them to receive! A material actual living breathing Messiah, God with them, who brought the Nation of Israel emancipation from bondage and sin.
Of course, this news was not received by them – in fact, they killed the messenger. But the GOOD NEWS for Israel was their promised Messiah came, He did what He said He would do, and as a result – all of Israel would be saved. Huh? What? That’s what both God in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament claim. Now that’s really, actually good news, isn’t it – that Jesus came and did what God said He would do, and having the victory, ALL of ISRAEL would be saved. Because God promised it.
This caused Paul to write to the Gentile believers in Rome:
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved.
The Good News to the House of Israel
for the fathers' sakes.
Now, the question. Was all of Israel saved from destruction in 70 AD when that nation was wiped out completely for all intents and purposes? Hardly. In fact more than a million Jews were slaughtered – but BECAUSE of the GOOD NEWS all of Israel was saved to God – and went to God, according to His promise to them.
Every last one of them – those in sheol, those in Jerusalem that rejected Jesus, those that died between the time Jesus was born and the time he returned – ALL OF ISRAEL – saved to God – but just not from physical loss. That they suffered because of their earthly choices. Nevertheless, that is good news, right? All who were truly Israel were saved as God promised.
That was the Good News Jesus chosen Apostles were going through out Judea and Asia Minor to share – we have Good News – you have been saved as our Messiah has come! Receive it and you will even escape the coming destruction that is headed our way. So . . . to the Jews . . . of that age and day . . . the Good News was, the Messiah has had the victory. He has done it all. Receive Him and escape the coming destruction.
Reception of the Good News
We note that this Good News did have a caveat – if they received it they would not suffer lose in the utter destruction of that age and of their entire nation. If not, they would still be saved to God after their life – this was God’s promise to them and God’s promises are all good. But to reject the good news in this life meant loss that they COULD have escaped . . . if they had just believed and received.
In the Long run, the Good News was still good for the House of Israel. God promised a Messiah, He came, He was victorious, and He redeemed them to God even though most rejected all the benefits receiving Him by faith would bare.
So, that application is over and done. Today there is no difference between Jew and Greek – we are all the same – in fact, we might even wonder about the claim many “Jews” make to being of the true House of Israel as their genealogies were all torched. But the Good News, first through Peter and then through Paul, has been extended out to the world. All Nations, all Kindred, all Tongues all people – equally.
Understanding the Good News
But what is it?
(beat)
Is it that God has saved some? He saved my neighbor but not me? That doesn’t sound like very good news, does it? That sounds like news God created to make me hate Him.
Or is it that God has saved all but only if THEY do EVERYTHING EVERYTHING their respective Bishop, prophet, pastor tells them they MUST do?
Perhaps we have missed the mark on defining the Good News, folks?
I mean, what would make the victory of Christ really, really good news to the whole wide world?
First of all, it would really be good news if Jesus really did it all, right? I mean if He left nothing on the table for us to bear? All of it, done by Him. That’s good news to me. Even the onus for me that I have to believe in order for the Good news to take effect, I’m not so sure of that because doesn’t scripture clearly say that He saved us WHILE we were yet sinners?
Didn’t Isaiah say:
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
Doesn’t Romans 5:10, "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Eight verses later don’t we read Romans 5:18
"So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men."
Doesn’t Romans 6:8 say,
"For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God."
Didn’t He become our righteousness too as 2nd Corinthians 5:21 says,
"He made Him who
The Good News for All
"He knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Didn’t He reconcile all things as Colossians 1:20 says, "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven."
Didn’t He defeat the Devil as Hebrews 2:14 says, "Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."
Didn’t he do this for the whole world as 1st John 2:2 says, "and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
Doesn’t Paul say in 1st Timothy 4:10, "For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe."
Universal Message of Salvation
So wouldn’t the Good News be good to all the world, especially those who believe? I think so. Wouldn’t it be good news to those who do not believe? If He did it all for us and on our behalf, I would think so. So like it was to the Jews He came to save, the Good News is good news to all of us – every single person who has lived or whoever will live.
And this is one of the first ways I suggest it be seen – that Jesus came and saved everyone – to God – but not necessarily from suffering. Remember, Jesus came and all of Israel was saved to God – but they could have benefited more by what He did for them if they had received the Good News while living. Most didn’t, so they suffered physical death by the millions. But those who did not only escaped the death and carnage at the hands of the Romans but they were also saved to God, as His elect!
Redemption and Message Today
And the very same principles remain today. Jesus has done EVERYTHING and has redeemed the world to God. This is the Good News we share, that "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” That . . . “we (believers here) therefore both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.”
Is this the message you hear today? That Jesus has saved the world for and on behalf of the Living God who is the Savior of all men, ESPECIALLY those who believe? Or do you hear and share another Good News – another form that says, "Welllllll, yeah,,,,,,, Jesus paid for sin BUT YOU, YOU, YOU have to do this, and YOU have to do that," OR “Weeeelll, He paid for the sin of those who would believe,” OR “He paid for the sins of the elect only or those who join the church ONLY.
Ya see, none of that tripe is Good News. It’s man’s version of the Good News. But God’s version is “God so LOVED the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Now, we tend to focus on the perishing part in the preaching of the Good News of God’s love – and it is part of the message, just like part of the apostolic message to the Jews was receive Christ before the coming destruction. But this did NOT negate the fact that all of Israel was saved to God as He had promised.
And so it is with us to the world. The message of the Gospel is this – Jesus loved you and saved you from your sins. Did you know this? All of your failures are over, done with and forgiven on your behalf. He has done it all for you. Believe on this and you will escape reaping what you have sown in your life, you will get new life here and now, and life with God hereafter – because of what HE HAS DONE. Isn’t that good news?
(We will talk next week about what the Good news is not . . . next week, and how the religionists have hijacked it to their own advantage. Let’s open up the phone lines: While the operators are taking your calls.)
Art Spot
ART SPOT HERE PLEASE.
Closing Thoughts
Phone calls or wrap it up.
