And so if you would flip
over to 1 Corinthians
chapter number 15, I'll
wrap up here.
But I just want to point
out to you the errors of
Mormonism.
It's a very strange
religion, a lot of false
doctrine, and you say,
well, Pastor Anderson, you
know, why do I need to
hear this because there's
no way I would ever join
the Mormon Church.
I didn't even see those
commercials, and even if I
had seen those commercials,
I would have reacted the
way you did and rejected
them.
The reason that I share
these things with you is
because the way that the
Mormons twist Scriptures
are the way that other
false teachers are going
to twist Scriptures to you,
and I'm showing you how
not to interpret the
Bible, right, because when
we read the Bible, we
don't want to use these
kind of interpretation
methods where we're
basically just making up
things.
Well, maybe he went to
India.
Maybe he got married.
Maybe, I mean, that's a
stupid way to read the
Bible.
What we need to do is read
the text for what it says
and deal with the text.
Read the text and say,
okay, this is what it says
about Jesus.
That's what we're going to
believe.
That's why I'm not
interested in sitting
around and thinking about,
I wonder what Jesus' early
20s were like.
You know, this is how you
get into false doctrine.
I wonder what his early 20s,
I wonder what his teenage
years were like.
Here's what I know about
Jesus.
I know what he was like
when he was a baby.
I know what Jesus was like
when he was 12.
And I know what Jesus was
like when he was 30.
You know, I can't say
anything about Jesus' life
when he was 22 years old or
17 years old.
And I think that it's a
wrong way to preach.
It's a wrong way to read
the Bible to make things up
and think about these
things and say, well, if
the Bible doesn't say no,
then, you know, I mean,
that, you know, we need to
go by what the Bible does
say, okay.
And we need to compare
Scripture with Scripture,
read the whole context,
and take the Bible at
face value.
If the Bible says,
there's a marriage at
Cana, Jesus is invited,
his disciples are invited
too, don't walk away
saying, I wonder if he was
the one getting married.
That's the wrong way to
read the Bible.
Just take the Bible at
face value.
You know, some people,
they try to read so much
between the lines, they
actually don't read the
lines.
They're so busy looking
for the hidden meaning,
they don't see what's
right in front of them.
We need to go always with
the surface meaning first.
Face value, what does the
Bible actually state before
you go off looking for all
this super ultra deep
hidden meaning?
You know, 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 is another
chapter that's very
powerful on the
resurrection of Jesus
Christ, but this is a
chapter that the Mormons
will really twist.
You know, they love to
twist this and make it
say something that it
doesn't, and one of the
verses that they like to
bring up is verse 29 of
1 Corinthians 15, because
I'm showing you tonight
how to not interpret the
Bible, okay?
In 1 Corinthians 15, 29,
it says, else what shall
they do which are baptized
for the dead?
If the dead rise not at
all, why are they then
baptized for the dead?
Now let me ask you this,
you know, the Bible's got
over 31,000 verses in it,
1189 chapters.
Is there any place in the
Bible that tells us to get
baptized for dead people?
Is there any command like
that?
Is there any story where
Peter shows up and says,
hey, let's get baptized
for your dead relatives?
Cornelius, what about your
relatives that already
died?
Let's get baptized for
that.
There's nothing like that
in the Bible.
Yet the Mormons will say
that they're, because they
get baptized for dead
people.
They just, all day every
day, they're just getting
baptized.
They just have lists of
names of genealogies, and
they're just baptizing for
that person.
It'd be like if I just
brought Brother Segura down
here every day, five days
a week, Monday through
Friday, and I just got a
list of all of Chris
Segura's ancestors, all my
ancestors, all your
ancestors, and we're just
like, and I'm just
pretending that he's my
great-grandfather,
Gustav, and I'm just like,
all right, Chris, put on a
baptism garment, and I'm
just like, all right,
Gustav Anderson, I baptize
you, and I'm just, and I'm
just like, all right,
Adolf Anderson, Anders
Anderson, you know, and I'm
just going through all of
these ancestors, dunking
him.
That's what the Mormons are
basically doing.
Okay.
And why?
Where are they getting
this?
Well, I mean, they've got
1 Corinthians 15, 29.
Else what shall they do
which are baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not
at all?
Why are they then baptized
for the dead?
Well, there you go, folks.
Now, here's what's wrong
with this method of
interpreting the Bible.
Is this verse telling us
that God's people do this?
Is this verse saying that
the apostles do it?
That Christians do it?
Is he saying that we should
do it?
Is he telling us to do it?
Is he saying that he does
it?
No.
What he's talking about in
this chapter are false
teachers who are denying
the resurrection.
And he's pointing out an
inconsistency in their own
doctrine.
He's saying if these people
don't believe in the
resurrection, then why are
they baptizing for the
dead if the dead rise not
at all?
Then why are they baptized
for the dead?
Do you see what I'm saying?
He's just pointing out that
their own religion
contradicts itself.
It'd be like if I said,
well, if the Mormons believe
that Jesus was married, why
don't they preach it?
If that's what they believe,
then why don't they preach
that?
Oh, well, Pastor Anderson
thinks that they should
preach that.
No, I'm just pointing out
the fact that they're not
even consistent with
themselves.
So you never want to base a
doctrine on a question.
Base a doctrine on a
statement.
This is not even a statement.
This is a question saying,
well, why do these people
do this?
It doesn't even make sense
what they're doing.
Oh, well, let's go do this.
Let's do that.
You see how that's a wrong
way of interpreting the
Bible?
And you know, you wonder
sometimes, you know,
there's all these
denominations, there's all
these religions out there.
How do we know which one's
right?
Everybody's got an
interpretation.
But you know what, friend,
that's not true, okay?
You've got people who
interpret the Bible
correctly, rightly dividing
the word of truth, and
you've got people that twist
scripture to teach what they
want it to teach.
The Mormon Church is built
on the lusts of men like
Joseph Smith and Brigham
Young who wanted to just
have a harem of underage
girls, and that's what they
did.
They had a harem of
underage girls, and so
they're going to build a
doctrine around that.
Oh, you know, you can't go
to heaven unless you get
married, girls.
And you want to go to the
real, hey, you want to go
all the way to Telestial,
or you want to go
to the real celestial.
Hey, stick with me, babe.
You're going to be in the
highest level of heaven,
the celestial.
Okay, that's where this
doctrine comes from.
It's a bunch of dirty old
men in Utah bringing a
bunch of underage girls
into the harem wanting to
be married to 10 wives, 15
wives, 20 wives.
They're a bunch of
perverts.
That's what's going on.
And so they're going to
build a doctrine around
that.
And let me tell you
something.
The Bible, because it has
31,000 verses, you can
pretty much get the Bible
to say whatever you want
it to say if you take
verses out of context, and
if you just grab a line
here and grab a line there
and just rip it out of its
context, twist it,
especially when you go get
some other version of the
Bible, you can get the
Bible to pretty much say
whatever you want it to
say if you want to twist
Scripture, because there's
31,000 verses.
There's so much material
to work with.
Or with a good and an
honest heart, you can
approach Scripture and
just take it for what it
says, and just read what
it says, and not read
into it things that aren't
there.
You can just read it and
read, okay, here's Jesus,
he's baptized, he's got 12
disciples, he's going
around doing good, he's
doing miracles, he's
preaching, he dies on the
cross, he's worried about
his mom, he takes care of
mom, you know, there's no
mention of him being
married or having kids or
anything like that.
But if you want to read
that into the text, you're
going to go dig for some
passage in Isaiah, he
shall see his seed.
Ah!
And then you're like,
where?
I'm trying to find Jesus
getting married in the
Bible.
Well, he attended a
wedding.
Must have been his
wedding.
If not, then tell me whose
it was.
Because if you can't tell
me who got married, I'm
going to say it was Jesus.
Well, you know what?
I can tell you that it
wasn't Jesus, it wasn't
Mary, and it wasn't any of
Jesus' disciples, because
they were all guests who
were invited, okay?
But you see how if you want
to approach the Bible with
a weird doctrine, you can
put it in there.
You can put whatever you
want in the Bible.
And look, every weird
Catholic doctrine, they
have a verse to back it
up, but it's out of
context 100% of the time.
It doesn't actually say
what they're saying it says
when you actually read it
in context.
Every weird Mormon doctrine,
they can point you to
something.
I got a thing in the mail
giving me all the biblical
justifications for
worshiping Mary, for the,
you know, transubstantiation.
I mean, look, they have a
verse for everything, but
it's out of context.
It's being read into the
text and not what the text
actually says.
You know, you've got to
read the Bible and take it
at face value.
And you know what?
I'm all for looking for
deeper meanings because
the Bible's really deep,
right?
I like all the symbolism
and the allegory and the
deep meaning.
But you know what?
Always make sure before
you go deep to get what's
on the surface.
That should be the first
thing.
The first stage of Bible
preaching and teaching
should be just what does
the text actually say?
You know, I mean, the
first thing that I'm going
to do when I'm reading the
Bible and I get to a story
of, you know, Hagar and
Ishmael and Hagar and
Ishmael get thrown out.
You know, I'm just going
to start out by just saying,
you know, Hagar and
Ishmael got thrown out,
you know, and tell about
that story.
Then we'll go into the
spiritual implications of,
you know, Hagar represents
the old covenant and Isaac
represents Christians and,
you know, but that's
secondary.
We always start with
this.
Otherwise, people would
say that the events in
Genesis, you know, they
didn't even happen because
it's all allegory.
There was no Abraham.
There was no...
Let me tell you something.
Abraham was a real person.
Ishmael was a real person.
Isaac was a real person.
Noah and the Ark, that
actually happened.
Those are real people.
Now, but we'll also say,
okay, the door on the Ark
represented Jesus, right?
The flood represents
damnation.
Being on the Ark
represents salvation.
There's only one way,
one door, Jesus.
But you know what?
Before I even begin to
talk about that, the first
thing we're talking about
is God actually flooded
the whole earth and Noah
built the Ark and went on
the Ark with his family
and they were spared the
physical destruction of
drowning in the flood.
You know, we don't want to
lose sight of the main
story.
Yes, I love the symbolism.
Yes, let's tie it in with
the gospel of Jesus Christ,
but let's not lose or
negate what the Bible
actually says.
Okay, we need to go with
just the surface meaning
first and make sure we
nail that down, then let's
go into the deeper
meanings instead of just
always looking for
something weird and that's
why I started out the
sermon with be not carried
about with divers and
strange doctrines.
There are people out there,
they're just looking for
something new, right?
They just, it's like their
goal, they're searching
the Bible to see if they
can find something that
nobody else found and the
weirder it is, the cooler
it is.
The more sci-fi, wild,
exotic it is, you know, so
much the better.
Folks, that is the wrong
way to read the Bible.
You know, we should be
just looking for the
normal stuff and just
reading the Bible on the
surface and you know,
let's find the deeper
meanings but let's not
just go into just crazy
town looking for the
weirdest, maybe it was
Jesus who got married at
that wedding, you know?
And you know, sometimes
people, and I'm not, I'm
not necessarily making fun
of anybody who brings some
of these things up to me
but sometimes people will
come up to me with kind of
wild doctrines like, you
know, maybe the lake of
fire is the sun.
Maybe the sun's the lake
of fire and I'm not making
fun of you if you thought
that but I'm, I'm just
saying like, where does
the Bible say that?
Why would I believe that?
Why would I teach that?
Why would I believe that?
What scriptural basis is
there for that?
That the sun is the lake
of fire, that just, it's
just like, where's that
coming from?
I mean, if, if that's how
we're going to read the
Bible then we can just
start making up all kinds
of wild things.
Then pretty soon we're
like Bill McGregor saying
that the New Jerusalem's
on the planet Saturn.
I mean, Bill McGregor
said that the New
Jerusalem is hidden in the
planet Saturn.
Well, show me in the Bible
where it's not.
You know what I mean?
He said the 144,000 are in
a secret base in Antarctica
and it's like, well, show
me in the Bible where
they're not.
He found some verse about
people being cold or
something, you know, the
frost or ice or
something, and it's just,
he just ran with it.
Do not be carried about
with divers and strange
doctrines.
If somebody comes at me
with a wild doctrine, they
better have some concrete
evidence from the, they
better have some clear
scripture from the Word.
And sometimes there are
people like, you know, I
can't, I think people
bring me a doctrine and
they're like, I can't
explain it that well.
You got to listen to this
sermon.
I can't explain it.
Well, can you show me the
Bible?
No, but you got to hear
this sermon.
Like the one time I heard
this doctrine about how
like when we are gone,
when we're not here, that
somebody believed that
like demons come to the
church building and mock
us and have a fake church
service while we're gone.
And it's like, and it was
just like, what?
But they're like, if you
heard the sermon that I
heard, the pastor made a
real good case for this.
And it's just like, I
don't need to hear that
sermon.
Like, I know that that's
not in the Bible.
But if you heard the
sermon though, here's
the thing.
If I have to hear some
special sermon to believe
something, it's probably
not worth believing.
If somebody can't just
open a Bible and just show
me a couple of verses,
hey, this is where this is
coming from, you know, but
it's all this wild stuff.
But if you heard the
sermon, you got to watch
this video, you know,
here's the thing, you
know, look, everything I
believe, I can just open
my Bible and just show you
some verses.
And if I can't show you a
clear verse about
something I believe, you
know what I'll say?
I'll say, hey, this is my
opinion, but I'm not
really dogmatic about it
because I don't really
have a clear verse.
Anything I'm going to say,
hey, I know I'm right
about this, it's because I
can point you to a clear
verse and it'll take me
minutes to show you a
couple of clear verses.
That's the standard for
doctrine.
And we need to make sure
that all of our beliefs
are based on clear
scriptural statements so
that we're not carried
about with all this wild
stuff.
And the Mormons are an
extreme example, but even
within evangelical
Christianity, I mean, you
know, people can get
caught up in these weird
things.
I mean, look at that guy
that they brought up at
that Presbyterian
Seminary or whatever.
You know, what's he
teaching those students
that are coming to that
school and learning from
this guy?
That guy should be fired
for teaching that, right,
immediately.
I mean, if some professor
in a Bible seminary or
Bible school is teaching
that Jesus was married and
had children, he should be
immediately fired.
And they should be tarred
and feathered.
Anyway, that's what they
did to Joseph.
Did you know that Joseph
Smith was literally tarred
and feathered?
Who knew that?
Joseph Smith was literally
tarred and feathered.
In fact, they were this
close to castrating him,
but he escaped being
castrated.
In the early days of
Mormonism, him and
co-founder, right-hand man
Sidney Rigdon, were both
tarred and feathered and
almost neutered.
That's a true story.
I'll close on that.
Father, we thank you so
much, Lord, for the
resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and it's good to
be able to think about that
today, Lord, and to
realize that Christ is
risen, and that one day,
because we know that
Jesus is risen, we know
that we also will be
resurrected, and we know
that we have eternal life
through Jesus because he
purchased eternal life on
the cross, and we're his
seed, and we're what he
travailed for, and we
thank you so much for the
gospel and salvation
through Jesus Christ, and
it's in his name we pray.