Alright, Galatians chapter 1, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is there
beginning in verse number 6 where the Bible reads,
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.
And what I want to preach about this morning is actually two other gospels and these two
other gospels have so much similarity and they're so much alike it's uncanny.
And it seems that so few people have noticed the correlation or pointed out the correlation
so I'm going to point it out this morning.
Flip over if you would to Ephesians chapter 4 and I want to explain to you first of all
why I'm preaching a message like I am this morning.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4.
In Ephesians 4, beginning in verse number 11, the Bible explains some of the purpose
of why we come to church to listen to preaching and teaching of God's Word.
And it begins there in verse 11 of Ephesians 4, he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists, and watch this, and some pastors and teachers.
Why?
For the perfecting of the saints.
Now are the saints the saved or the unsaved?
The saved.
He said it's for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying,
edifying means building up of the body of Christ.
And look at verse 13.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we be henceforth,
henceforth means from here on out, that we be henceforth be no more children, tossed
to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head,
even Christ.
So the Bible's telling us God does not want us to be like spiritual children, and spiritual
children are easily deceived.
Just like a physical child.
You can play tricks and you can move your thumb around and say, see, look, I'm moving
my thumb off my hand, see?
Because they're easily deceived.
They are easy to fool.
But if you try that same trick on an adult, they're not going to believe it.
They're going to know that it's not real.
And God is saying that spiritually, part of the reason why we come to church is so that
we can become rooted and grounded in what we believe, we can grow in knowledge, the
Bible says, and we can be no more children that are tossed to and fro with every wind
of doctrine and the slight of men, he said, and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie
in wait to deceive.
The Bible says for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
is the Christ.
This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ, and the Bible's warning us that there are many,
many people out there whose goal is to deceive us and whose goal is to deceive everyone and
they preach another gospel, they preach a false gospel, and our job is to grow up in
him and learn enough that we will not be fooled by it.
We will instantly see the error, we will instantly see the deception, and we will not be deceived
or fooled by false teaching and false doctrine.
Now the two deceivers that I want to preach about today, the first one is named Mohammed,
and he's the founder of the religion of Islam, and the second one is Joseph Smith, and he's
the founder of the religion of Mormonism.
Now you say, Pastor Anderson, why would you preach on these two false gospels and false
doctrines?
We are not going to be deceived by Mohammed or Joseph Smith, give me a break, of course
you're not, but wait a minute, Satan is behind both of these false religions, and the same
Satan that is behind both of these false religions, he will try to creep in with some
of the doctrines that form the foundation and bedrock of these two false religions.
He'll creep some of it in amongst Baptists if he can, and he's already done so and I'll
prove it to you this morning.
But let me start out by showing you some of the striking similarities between Mormonism
and Islam.
You say Mormonism and Islam, give me a break.
Okay, well in Galatians 1 where we started, flip back there if you would, it's just a
few pages to the left in your Bible.
Look down if you would at verse number 8.
The Bible says, but though we, and when he says we there, he's saying even if I, the
apostle Paul, came back and started preaching another gospel that was contrary to what Jesus
Christ taught, he said even I should be accursed.
He said even if I'm the one teaching, he said though we, or what, an angel from heaven preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Now the first similarity I want to point out is that both Islam and Mormonism were both
started by an angel who came preaching another gospel.
Isn't that the truth?
An angel came and spoke to Mohammed.
Mohammed, this is in 610 AD, an angel came to Mohammed and later he said it was Gabriel
that came to him.
You know, that's a convenient guy to pick, you know, there's only a couple of angels
named in the Bible, so hey, how about make it Gabriel?
So Gabriel came to Mohammed in a cave and grabbed him by the throat and shook him and
told him, you're going to preach when I tell you to preach, okay?
Well fast forward to the 1830s and Joseph Smith is visited by an angel, Moroni, that
brings him another gospel, a false gospel, and I'm going to show you how these gospels
are false.
Here's another important similarity and this is really the basis for both of these religions
because people will try to say, wait a minute Pastor Anderson, you can't put Mormonism and
Islam in the same boat.
Yes I will because Mormonism has far more in common with Islam than it does with Christianity.
I'm going to show it to you this morning.
Mormonism is much closer to Islam than it is to biblical Christianity and we are living
today in the city that is the second largest home of Mormonism in America, did you know
that?
The biggest Mormon hub in America, or in the world, is Salt Lake City, Utah.
The second largest population is Mesa, Arizona and if anybody's been door-to-door soul winning
there, you know that's true.
You know, eight or nine out of ten doors are those that are Mormons.
Now here is the main tenet that these have in common.
First of all, they're both started by a so-called prophet who received another gospel, a false
gospel that contradicted the Word of God from an angel that came preaching another gospel.
They apparently didn't know Galatians 1 very well.
But secondly this, and if you would turn to Psalms chapter 12, Psalm 12.
Both religions, both Islam and Mormonism, they both claim to believe the Bible.
Did you know that?
They both say we believe the Bible, but, but it's been corrupted over time.
And here's what they'll say, oh the Bible's the Word of God if it's been translated properly.
But they do not believe that the Bible has been preserved, neither one of them.
If you go to the Muslim, and you know when I'm out knocking doors I'll run into Muslims
a lot, and you run into the Muslim and they'll say, I believe in Jesus, I believe the Bible,
I believe it's the Word of God.
But they say the Bible's been tampered with, it's been corrupted.
It has not been preserved unto us today in the form in which it was originally written.
You go to the Mormon and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
They'll say we believe the Bible if it's been translated correctly, but they don't believe
that the King James Bible that they hold in their hand has been translated correctly.
They'll tell you it has mistakes in it.
That's why their prophet Joseph Smith, he wrote his own version of the Bible called
the Joseph Smith version.
It's so weird they don't even use it.
And he rewrote, mainly he rewrote the whole book of Genesis.
Because he said, oh it's been corrupted, it's been changed.
The Bible's not their authority, but they claim to believe it.
You say Islam's not Christianity, neither is Mormonism.
Neither is Mormonism.
And today there's a movement, and in 2012 that movement is stronger than ever to get
Christians to accept Mormonism today as a legitimate denomination, and it's not.
It is not Christianity.
It might as well be a denomination of Islam.
Shia, Sunni, and Mormon is how it ought to be.
Because I'm telling you, it has more in common with that false doctrine than it does with
Biblical Christianity.
And people want to get you to accept Mormonism today, and it is not a Christian religion,
it is a false cult just like Islam.
Let's look at the preservation of God's Word.
Both religions claim that the Bible was originally inspired by God, but that it has not been
preserved unto us today.
That is what both Islam and Mormonism teach.
So when you show them something, for example I was talking to a Muslim Alsone and he said,
well the Bible never says that Jesus is the Son of God.
And I said, okay, here's where it says it.
John chapter 9, where Jesus said, I am the Son of God.
And he said, oh, he said that part's been corrupted.
That part hasn't been preserved right.
The part where Jesus said, I am the Son of God.
And I showed him another one, and he said, no, that's not right either.
Same thing with the Mormons.
That's why they put the Book of Mormon higher, because they say, well the Book of Mormon
is dead on, the other one's been corrupted.
The Quran, it's dead on, but the other one's been corrupted.
See the similarity?
But look at Psalm 12, and let's see some scriptures on the preservation of God's Word.
The Bible says in verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words.
As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, thou shalt keep them, O Lord,
thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.
Now many will attack this scripture and say, oh, that's not really what that means.
And I've heard people say this very often.
This is the only verse that teaches biblical preservation.
That's what I've heard them say.
James White in Phoenix here, false teacher, he said this is the only verse that teaches
the preservation of God's Word, and then he goes back to the Hebrew to tell, you know,
kind of like a Mormon would do, or kind of like, oh, it's not translated right, and change
it.
Okay, well let's forget Psalm 12.
Let's look at some other verses on preservation.
Go to Isaiah 59.
Oh, there's plenty of verses in the Bible on the preservation of God's Word.
Go to Isaiah chapter 59, those three big books at the end of the Old Testament, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and Ezekiel.
While you're turning to Isaiah 59, let me read for you out of the mouth of Jesus Christ
in the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 18, for verily I say unto you, till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Jesus said in Matthew 24, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away.
He didn't say the story.
He didn't say the thoughts.
He didn't say the idea.
He said my words shall not pass away.
Mark 13, 31, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
In case you missed it, Luke 21, 33, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
not pass away.
Luke 16, 17, for it's easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to
fail.
Isaiah 59 verse 21, as for me, this is my covenant with them, sayeth the Lord, my spirit
that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth.
Talking to Isaiah the prophet, he said I put those words in your mouth.
He says my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, sayeth the Lord, from henceforth
and forever.
Did you get that?
He said, Isaiah, the words that you speak, your children will speak those words, your
grandchildren will speak those words, forever it will be preserved unto all generations.
The Bible says in 1 Peter 1 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
God did not deliver, think about how foolish it would be.
For God to deliver his word, and look how much trouble he went through to deliver his
word.
Let me ask this, did he deliver it all at once?
No.
He delivered it over time, he spake by the prophets, and over time it was written down,
over time it was collected, over centuries God gave his word, gave his word, gave his
word, and then Jesus Christ came and spoke more of his word, and those words were penned
down, and holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and the word of God
was given, and then, oh, it was lost right after that.
But don't worry, because what we've got is kind of a rough, close, you know, close enough
type of, no, he said man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded
out of the mouth of God.
So God preserved the words unto us today.
I believe that when I pick up the Holy Bible in my hand, I'm reading the exact same word
that was given unto the apostles and prophets and the words that Jesus spake.
He said, ah, but they didn't speak English.
That doesn't matter.
God can speak any language.
At the day of Pentecost, he spoke all languages.
There were people there from every nation under heaven, and the Bible says that they
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost in all those languages.
Oh, you lose something in the translation.
Well, the Holy Ghost spake all languages at the day of Pentecost.
Was something lost?
Absolutely not.
Was something lost when the Old Testament, which was written in Hebrew, is quoted in
the New Testament, which was written in Greek?
Did you lose something?
No, because God is the one who created language.
God divided the languages at the Tower of Babel, and God is able to speak his word in
any language on the face of this earth.
It can be translated.
It can be done.
But the Muslims don't believe that, and the Mormons don't believe that.
They believe that the original writings were perfect, but, oh, they've been tampered with.
They've been corrupted.
But you know what?
That's what many Baptists believe.
Oh, we believe in inerrancy in the originals.
Oh, that does us a lot of good thousands of years later.
Isn't it comforting to know that there was a perfect book a couple thousand years ago
that you could have read to know the truth?
Boy, that really helps today just to know that at one point it existed, but it got lost
somewhere.
Look, can God preserve his word or not?
Can God speak to us today through his word or not?
I'm not looking for something that's close enough in the ballpark.
What if the part that I'm relying on the most is one of the errors?
You know what I mean?
What if John 3.16 is messed up?
See it's not though, because God preserved his word, and Islam and Mormonism are both
false on that account.
But they both teach the same thing, that God's word has not been preserved.
You say, okay Pastor Anderson, what are the other similarities besides the fact that they
were both started by a prophet that received another gospel from an angel, and that angel
told Mohammed that the Bible was wrong.
The Bible's been corrupted.
You need to bring a new scripture, a new revelation.
What did the angel tell Joseph Smith?
Same thing.
Oh, all religions are corrupt.
They're all messed up.
You need to bring a new scripture, a new revelation.
Joseph Smith brought out the Book of Mormon in English.
You know, Mohammed brought out the Koran in Arabic.
Another striking similarity between these two religions is that they both promote basically
a certain race or a certain nationality into preeminence.
Did you notice that?
Because with Mormonism, it's basically the white man and the English language that's
basically put into preeminence and put in the number one slot.
That's why until the 1950s, no black man was allowed to join the Mormon church.
Now here's the difference.
God's word said that he made all nations of the earth of one blood.
We are all of one blood.
We are all his children through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
We don't believe that there should be a different church for different nationality.
And the Mormon church said whites only for a long time.
Well, if you look at Islam, it has a similar mentality that says, hey, you must speak Arabic.
You must live the Arabic culture and the Arabic way of life.
But even when a person converts to Islam, they can't even keep their normal name.
They have to switch to an Arabic name.
Remember Cassius Clay, the boxer?
What did his name become?
Muhammad Ali.
Why did he change his name?
Because when people convert to Islam, they have to convert unto an Arabic name, they
have to read the Koran in the Arabic language, and they have to convert to an Arabic way
of life and Arabic culture.
And it was all about promoting the Arabic way, the Arabic culture, Arabic pride.
That's what Islam is about.
And when Joseph Smith started Mormonism, Mormonism was all about white supremacy.
And basically they said North America is basically the promised land and Utah is Zion.
And I mean it's even called Zion National Park in Utah, but they say, you know, Utah
is the promised land and we're the chosen people and the whiter you are, the better
you were when you were up in heaven before you were born.
Both of them basically pushed a certain nationality and a certain culture and a certain language
and say this is the only right one, you know, this is the supreme, the preeminent.
That's not a right doctrine.
You know, God chose the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, but you know what?
When they forsook him and started worshipping other gods, and when they ultimately rejected
Jesus Christ, he looked at them and said, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
He said think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto
you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
He said it's not about the fact that you're a so-called Jew or that you're a child of
Abraham.
He said God is not a respecter of persons and you will be cut down and uprooted if you
do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and anyone, red, yellow, black, and white, who
believes on Christ is one of his chosen people.
You are the chosen one.
You are the holy nation.
You are the peculiar people if you believe on Christ.
It doesn't promote a certain culture or a certain nationality or a certain geographic
region and say, oh, you must travel to Mecca, the holy land of Islam.
You must go to Saudi Arabia and speak Arabic and be an Arab and then, you know, with the
Mormons, you gotta travel to Salt Lake City and make that pilgrimage to that temple, well,
the white man's shrine.
You know, both of them are promoting a certain geographical area and a certain nationality
and a certain culture and a certain language and saying, hey, it's all about this language.
You have to know the English Book of Mormon to get the real truth because the Bible's
been translated wrong.
You have to read the Quran in Arabic to get the truth because, you know, it just can't
be translated any other way perfectly.
And if you try to show them an English Quran, they'll tell you, oh, it's not translated
right.
You gotta speak Arabic.
Is God the God of the Arabs only?
Is God the God of the white man only?
Is he the God of the Jews only or is he also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also, it says in Romans 4.
He's the God of all flesh.
He's the God of all the earth.
And the Bible says when we get to heaven in Revelation 7, there will be people there of
every nation, every tribe, every language, every kindred, and every tongue will be represented
in heaven.
It's not an elite group for a certain family.
It's open to everybody.
Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Aren't the similarities striking?
Here's another big one, polygamy.
I mean this one's obvious.
Both Joseph Smith and Mohammed had a multiplicity of wives.
Now Joseph Smith took it to a whole new level.
He had like 40 wives or something like that.
I mean nobody knows exactly for sure because he was doing it in secret because it was against
the law and everything like that, but he had like 40-some wives.
Well guess how many Mohammed had, 11.
So Mohammed had 11 wives, Joseph Smith had like 40 wives, they're both really into polygamy.
Now not only that, but Mohammed, and you know this is going to offend people, I really couldn't
care less.
Go burn down something somewhere in the world because of this.
Mohammed was a pedophile, did you hear me?
He was a child molester.
How dare you say that?
Look, he married a 9-year-old.
Did you hear me?
And this is in the Quran.
Mohammed, and I've gone out so many times, I always ask them, I say, did Mohammed marry
a 9-year-old?
They say yes.
Her name was Aisha.
They'll tell you the name, oh she was an important part of Islam.
He was betrothed unto her when she was 6-years-old and he consummated the marriage when she was
9.
I don't care what planet you're from.
That is pedophilia.
That is abomination.
That is horrific.
So basically he was a pervert, is what it comes down to.
And Joseph Smith, I mean we don't really know all the facts about all his wives.
I guess Joseph Smith didn't brag about it as much as Mohammed.
And then later Brigham Young, he was more open about it and talked openly about his
multiplicity of wives because Joseph Smith was succeeded by Brigham Young and he had
all kinds of wives publicly and openly.
But I'll say this, basically Joseph Smith in his 30s and 40s was married to girls that
were 12, 13, 14.
We don't know all the exact details, but Mohammed on the record was married to a 9-year-old.
That was one of his 11 wives.
And by the way, when he married the 9-year-old, he was 53.
Did you hear that?
53 years old.
This is the founder of a religion, my friend, that has a billion followers.
Did you know that?
There are over 1 billion Muslims in this world.
Now how many Mormons are there?
Approximately 1 million.
So there are a thousand times as many Muslims as there are Mormons because there are about
a million Mormons and about a billion Muslims.
But here's the thing, where we live, there are a lot more Mormons than there are Muslims.
So to us, we're more confronted with Mormonism than we are with Islam.
They're both a false religion.
They both have a lot of similarities, in fact.
Are you starting to see it yet?
Both, here's another similarity, both claim to believe in the Lord Jesus, but it's another
Jesus.
Go to 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3.
And you see, you need to be rooted and grounded doctrinally so that you're not deceived by
false teachers and false prophets that will bring this stuff in.
You see, the whole bedrock of both Mormonism and Islam is that the Bible is not preserved
unto us.
So when you start hearing Baptists and Christians telling you the Bible's not preserved, it's
been corrupted or changed over time, we've got to go back to the originals and they're
all gone and we've got to dig around and find them, you know, basically that's Mormon talk.
That's Muslim talk.
Why?
Because it's the same devil that wants us to believe that?
I mean, what was the first thing that the devil did in the Garden of Eden?
He said, yea, hath God said.
He questioned, is this really what God said?
And that's exactly what he did with these two religions that we're talking about this
morning and that's exactly what he does even amongst Christians and Baptists.
But he said this in 2 Corinthians 11, 3, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled
believe, through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that
is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preach 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.
Now doesn't that tell us right there that there's another Jesus at the beginning of
verse 4?
Now look, just because somebody's name is Jesus, does that make them Jesus?
In fact, there were other people in the Bible named Jesus.
That doesn't mean that they were the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean if you go out amongst the Hispanic folk around here, you'll find people named
Jesus all day long.
But does that mean that if you believe in them you'll be saved?
No, because just because they're named Jesus doesn't mean that they're the Jesus of the
Bible.
Well the Jesus of Mormonism and the Jesus of Islam, they'll both tell you, look, here's
how people are fooled.
Somebody walks around saying Islam is Christianity, do they?
But they'll say Mormonism is Christianity.
I guess just because Mormonism has Jesus in the name, even though it's the same doctrine
as Islam, just because it has Jesus in the name, suddenly that makes it Christianity.
Wrong.
It's not Christianity.
No more than Islam is.
It's the same thing.
But there's another Jesus, and when the Mormons talk about Jesus, they're not talking about
the Jesus of the Bible.
Oh no.
The Jesus of the Bible has been given a name that is above any other name.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth
and things other than the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
You see the Jesus of the Bible is the Savior of the world, the only begotten of the Father,
God in the flesh.
The Bible says God was manifest in the flesh.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1-8, but unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever.
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
You see, the Jesus of the Bible is God incarnate, God in the flesh.
The Jesus of Mormonism is a God.
Not the God, not the one true only God, but a God of many.
And by the way, he's Satan's brother according to Mormonism.
They say Lucifer and Jesus are brothers.
I've heard Baptists who believe that, by the way.
You say why do you preach this in a Baptist church?
Well I've heard Baptists who said that in Genesis 6 the sons of God were demons.
Well I'm sorry, I don't believe demons are the sons of God.
I don't believe any angels are the sons of God.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1-5 that he never said unto any of the angels at any time thou
art my son this day have I begotten thee.
Read Hebrews 1-5.
So I don't believe that, but there are Baptists who actually believe that demons are sons
of God and that basically Jesus is their brother apparently and that's a false doctrine.
That's a wicked doctrine.
But here's the thing, the Jesus of Islam was a good prophet.
He's a good teacher.
But here's what Islam says, that he was not the son of God.
You see Islam teaches that God has no son.
Now that right there, listen up carefully, that right there should tell you that no Muslims
are saved.
No Muslims are on their way to heaven because Islams, if you could sum up Islam in a very
short phrase, this is their phrase, there's only one God and Mohammed is his prophet.
But then another phrase that they use that Allah has no son, because Allah is basically
their word for God, it's Arabic for God.
But I'll tell you this right now, the Bible says you must believe on the son to have everlasting
life.
He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Now tell me, does a religion with a billion followers who says that God has no son, do
they believe in the son?
No.
So how can you believe they're saved?
Billy Graham, he said, he said, I believe we'll see the Muslims in heaven.
They're following the light that they have.
They're following the devil who's been transformed into an angel of light.
And the Bible says no marvel, for the devil himself is transformed into an angel of light
and is ministers into a minister of light.
Was Mohammed visited by an angel?
Probably.
The devil himself.
Was Joseph Smith visited by an angel?
Sure.
The devil himself, who the Bible tells us is transformed into an angel of light.
Or maybe they both just made the whole thing up, I don't know, either way.
But a religion like Islam that gripped one billion people in its clutches, Satan has
to be behind that.
I don't think just one crackpot could come up with that.
You know, that powerful of a force in the world.
Obviously the devil's got to be behind that.
So he probably did grab him by the throat and pick him up off the ground and start shaking
him.
I believe that part of the story.
I just don't think it was Gabriel.
But anyway, so the Bible is teaching us here that there is another Jesus.
The Jesus of Mormonism is not the Jesus of the Bible.
The Jesus of Mormonism is a god.
The Jesus of Islam is just a good teacher, a good prophet.
Go to Mark chapter 10.
Let me debunk that for you.
You see how the teachings of Mormonism and the teachings of Islam are not consistent
with the teachings of the Bible.
That's why both of them have stated that the Bible has been corrupted and has not been
preserved.
This is what they say.
The Mormons will tell you Abraham was a Mormon, Isaac was a Mormon, Joseph was a Mormon, and
Moses was a Mormon, Jesus was a Mormon.
That's what the Mormons tell you.
And you know what the Islamic people will tell you?
They'll say Abraham was a Muslim, you know, Isaac was a Muslim, Jacob was a Muslim, Moses
was a Muslim, Jesus was a Muslim, but it's just not the way it is in the Bible.
We're just going to tell our own stories about a guy named Moses to make it seem like it's
a continuation of, I mean both Mormonism and Islam claim to be a continuation of this book.
They do.
Islam claims to be a continuation of the Bible.
They teach that Abraham was a great prophet, and then Moses, and then Jesus, and then Mohammed
was the next in that succession.
The Mormons believe that the New Testament succeeds the Old Testament and the Book of
Mormon succeeds the New Testament.
That's what they both believe.
You see how similar they are?
It's uncanny.
It's amazing.
The parallels are mind-boggling.
Look if you would at Mark chapter 10 verse number 17, the Bible reads, and when one was
gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, good master,
what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good?
There is none good but one that is God.
Let me ask you something.
Is it possible for Jesus to be just a good teacher if he's not God?
No way.
Why?
Because there's only one that's good, and that's God.
Where Jesus here is either saying, in verse 17 and 18, he's either saying one of two things.
Jesus is either saying, I'm not good, and I'm not God, or he is saying, I am good, and
I'm God.
I mean, that's the only way.
How else can you interpret that?
He says, why are you calling me good?
There's none good but one, and that's God.
If Jesus Christ is not God, then he's not good.
And what kind of a blasphemous thing would it be to say Jesus isn't good?
He's the good shepherd.
He's good.
In fact, he was perfect.
In fact, he was God.
And so the Bible's real clear that you can't have this both ways.
You can't just say, oh, he's a good teacher, he's a good prophet, he's a good man.
That's what even atheists will tell you sometimes.
I think Jesus was a good man.
I think Jesus was a pretty good guy.
You know, he had a lot of good ideas, he had a lot of good teachings.
No, he's either a liar or he's God in the flesh.
And you can't try to just say he's a pretty good guy because he wasn't a good guy if he
was not God.
But guess what?
He was good and he was God.
Thanks be to God.
Now, I've got a lot here I'm trying to prioritize here and hit the main points.
Let me be fair.
Let me be fair for a second.
Let's be fair.
Let's point out the difference between Islam and Mormonism, okay?
You say, Pastor Anderson, you're trying to put them in the same boat.
Okay, let's be fair.
Let's point out a major difference, and this is a really big difference, between Islam
and Mormonism.
Then we'll get back to the similarities.
Here's a big difference.
Islam believes that there's one God.
Mormonism believes that there's millions and billions of Gods.
That's a pretty big difference because like I said earlier, the main tenet, if you ask
people to sum up Islam in one sentence, this is what it is, there's only one God and Mohammed
is his prophet.
Everybody's heard that before, haven't you heard that phrase before?
That's their mantra.
That is their doctrine.
There's only one God.
Now if you would, turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2.
And while you're turning to 1 Timothy chapter 2, I will read for you from James chapter
2.
In James chapter 2, verse number 19, you're turning to 1 Timothy 2, in James 2.19 it says
this, Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well.
Did you hear that?
Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well.
The devils also believe and tremble.
And why do they tremble?
Because they're scared to death of God's wrath that will cast them into hell one day.
First Timothy 2, let me get there myself.
In 1 Timothy 2 we find the Bible stating again that there is only one God in verse 5.
Look at it.
For there is one God.
There is one God.
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Latter-day Saints.
There is one God.
But the next scripture doesn't say, Mohammed's his prophet.
That's the part where they're wrong.
It says for there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ, Jesus.
And so that makes it real clear, that does, James 2 does.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
Go to Isaiah 43.
There is one God, 1 Timothy 2.5.
There is one God, James 2.19.
There is one God, according to Deuteronomy chapter 6.
You say, well you believe in the Trinity?
The Bible says there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one.
Did you hear that?
These three are one.
There's one God.
It's three that are one.
You say, how can three be one?
Well ask God when you get there, but I just believe it when He said it.
I don't have to explain it to you.
Go to Isaiah 43.
I don't have to defend God.
Look at Isaiah 43.
The Bible says in Isaiah 43, 10, Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant
whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He.
Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior.
Do you see that?
He said there was no God before me, there will never be any God after me, I am He, there's
none else, and beside me there is no Savior.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is not a different Savior, He's God manifest in the
flesh.
And so the Bible's real clear again and again that there's only one God, and just in case
you were confused, God even says, let me just break this down to you.
Before me there was no other God, and after me there's never going to be another God.
Let's look at Mormonism.
Here's what Brigham Young said, as former LDS prophet Brigham Young taught, and here's
a quote from him, this is a verbatim quote, how many gods there are I do not know.
Well let me help you Brigham Young, 1 Timothy 2.5, James 2.19, Isaiah 43, and on and on.
But he said how many gods there are, he said I don't know.
There was never a time when there were not gods and worlds and when men were not passing
through the same ordeals that we are passing through.
So did you hear that, gods and worlds, and I don't know how many there are.
Listen to this, this is another Mormon apostle that came later on, Orson Pratt.
Here's what he said, if we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles,
we should find that there are more gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds.
Whoa man, that's a lot of gods.
I mean this would make the Hindus blush, they only have a thousand gods.
I mean even a Hindu would probably, this would floor them.
I mean if we take a million worlds and count up all the particles, I mean is he talking
subatomic or are we just talking molecules or what are we talking Orson?
Help us out here.
He's saying that there are literally like a bazillion gods.
I mean he's saying like a number like 10 to the whatever power, I mean you have to use
scientific notation to count how many gods the Mormons believe in.
I mean I got a whole page of quotes here where they're talking about this stuff.
Here's what Brigham Young claimed, he is our father, the father of our spirits and was
once a man in mortal flesh as we are and is now an exalted being.
How many gods there are I do not know and it picks up the other quote that I read.
He said, then we shall go back to our father and God who is connected with one who is still
farther back and this father is connected with one still farther back and so on.
So he's saying like God had a father and he had another father and he had another father
and he had another father.
Our God is a natural man.
This is also Brigham Young, or this is Heber C. Kimball.
The first of all mechanics, well I guess God was the first mechanic according to this guy.
Where did he get this knowledge from?
From his father.
Just as we get knowledge from our earthly parents.
And listen to this, Orson Pratt, the gods who dwell in the heaven have been redeemed
from the grave in a world which existed before the foundation of this earth were laid.
They and the heavenly body they now inhabit were once in a fallen state.
This is basically teaching that God used to be a sinful guy who became a god, he was in
another world, on another planet, and they were exalted also from fallen men to celestial
gods, plural, to inhabit their heaven forever and ever.
We were begotten by our father in heaven, I mean I can't even read this garbage, nonsense.
It's just a bunch of garbage, it's like oh there's all these other planets and other
galaxies and other gods, this is not Christianity my friend.
That saying, oh this is another, he believes in Jesus, he don't even believe that there's
one god.
He's not even monotheistic.
I mean yes, you say quit putting Islam and Mormonism in the same boat, but I'm here to
tell you something, you're right I found a difference, but on this one Islam's right
and Mormonism's wrong.
This is like Mormonism's even further out to lunch than Islam.
Now Islam does win, they win on that 9 year old thing, as far as being the most weirdest,
bizarre, perverse religion.
But when it comes to how many gods there are, score a point for Islam and Mormonism loses.
But you see, these doctrines are not of God, they're not Christianity.
And we live in a day where we're edging toward the end of the world, the Bible talks about
it.
The Bible teaches that in the end, all religions will unite around the Antichrist.
And we're already seeing that happening where Christians are told to accept Mormonism and
Catholicism and we can all hold hands, and Islam, they believe in Jesus too, we all believe
in Jesus, let's all agree on Abraham, let's all agree on the fact that there's one God.
Sorry that's not enough.
Neither one of them believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I'll say this, both religions believe in works salvation, a works-based salvation.
Both of them.
You say, how do you witness to Mormons?
How do you witness to Muslims?
You know how I witness to Mormons?
You know how I witness to Muslims?
Same way I witness to Christians that aren't saved, so-called Christians that aren't saved.
Same way I witness to the atheists.
Same way I witness to any unbeliever.
I teach them that salvation is by grace through faith alone in the shed blood of Jesus Christ,
because none of them believe that.
You say, what do you focus on?
Do you bring a list of those quotes about multiple gods?
No, I'll tell you what I focus on, the gospel of Christ, because the gospel is the power
of God and the salvation, and the gospel is that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have eternal life.
That's the gospel.
That's good news, because if it was based on how good we are, I wouldn't be going.
You wouldn't be going.
It's by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast.
The Mormons will tell you, you've got to work your way to get there.
The Mormons will tell you that you have to do good, and here's what they'll even teach.
They teach that 90% of people are saved.
The Mormons teach that people who don't even believe in Jesus are saved.
They're just on a low level of salvation, but if you really want to dwell in the Father's
house where there's many mansions, you've got to work your way to get there.
You've got to earn it.
You can't just live however you want, and then the Muslims, it's a total workspace salvation.
Here's how I give the gospel to Muslims.
Let me just quickly go through this and I'll be done.
When I show up to a Muslim's door to give them the gospel, the first thing I do is I
just go through the plan of salvation.
I'm not one of these that thinks it's different for everybody.
The same gospel, the same word, and I'm not saying I do it the same at every door, but
I don't feel like, oh, I need a special way.
Oh, I can't give the gospel because I don't know how to do it with Mormons.
Do it the same way you did it with Muslims.
It's the same religion anyway, but I just go through it and just show them that they're
a sinner from the Bible.
I show them that the penalty for sin is death.
I take them to Revelation.
I show them about four scriptures on hell.
I take them through the life of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection.
That's where the power is.
I take them through the fact that it's believed, that it's by faith alone, and then I'm dead
sure to take them through the fact that it's eternal life, that you can't lose it.
I show several scriptures on the fact that it's everlasting, it's eternal.
We cannot lose it.
Nor leave us nor forsake us, that our sins are gone as far as the east is from the west.
I go through that with them.
When I'm all done with that, I give them a choice and I say, are you willing to change
what you believe?
Stop believing in Islam and believe this instead.
If they say yes, then I say great.
I pray with them and help them to just call upon the name of the Lord, because if they
believe it and they're rejecting that other thing and they're believing the truth, they
could be saved right there.
But a lot of times they'll say, no, no, I still believe in Islam.
So here's what I say to them next, if that didn't work.
I say, okay, what does Islam teach you have to do to get to heaven?
You know what they say?
Oh, you've got to follow the commandments, you've got to be a good person, you've got
to obey this law.
And I say, okay, well guess what?
You've already failed, because you're not perfect, you're a sinner.
And you're telling me that to go to heaven, you have to live a good life, and you have
to keep the commandments.
I say, you haven't kept the commandments, you haven't lived a good life, you're a sinner
just like I'm a sinner.
But the difference is that I have a savior, and you don't.
So I tell them this, I say, according to Christianity, you're going to go to hell, because the Bible
says if you don't believe on the Son of God, you'll go to hell.
And I said, even according to Islam, you're going to go to hell, because you didn't keep
the commandments, because you broke the commandments.
One time I was talking to this girl, and I was giving her the Gospel, and she had the
head covering and the whole shebang.
And I was showing her the Gospel, and she gave me this thing, oh you've got to be a
good person, you've got to follow the laws, you've got to follow that.
And she had a TV in the background with Jerry Springer or something on it.
Some horrific show.
And I said, well wait a minute, is that a sin?
And normally I wouldn't just point out people's sins, but she's sitting there telling me that
she's keeping all the commandments.
And I said, well what about this show you're watching, is that what Allah would watch?
What would Allah do?
You know what I mean?
I said, would you sit down with Mohammed and watch that?
And she's like, oh no, yeah, you're right, that is a really bad, I shouldn't have been
watching it, you're right.
I said, okay, well, you know, there goes your salvation.
You're making way too many mistakes here.
You're breaking God's laws.
And she's like, well, you know, I'm hoping that Allah's going to cut me some slack and
this and that.
I don't think he's going to.
He's pretty strict.
And I said, both religions are condemning you, but through Jesus you'll be saved.
Because see, the difference is, we believe in God's commandments too.
And we believe there's a punishment for breaking God's commandments too, just like Islam.
The difference is that we're saved through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus.
They don't have a savior.
Who's the savior of Islam?
Mohammed's not their savior.
They believe that Mohammed was a sinful man, just like anybody else, that he was just a
human being.
They believe he was a good guy, a prophet, but wait a minute, they don't believe he was
God, and they don't believe he died for them.
They have no savior.
Same with the Jews, same thing.
They don't have a savior.
They don't have the blood.
They believe in work salvation.
Have you noticed that every false religion in the world believes in work salvation?
That's why you can win them all to Christ the same, by emphasizing faith in Christ as
the only way to heaven.
Use whatever verses you like.
The book of John, the book of Acts, the book of Romans are all replete, as well as the
whole Bible teaches that concept.
That right there shows that they're trusting works.
You go to the Mormons and they'll tell you, they'll give you a list of stuff you have
to do to be saved.
You've got to be baptized, you've got to go to church, you've got to wear funny underwear,
you've got to get married in the temple.
You've got to do all this stuff, and you've got to obey all these laws.
They believe that if you're a Mormon, and you're a devout Mormon, and then you leave
the church, you're one of those 10% that's going downstairs.
Even though they teach that people who've never even believed in Jesus or heard of Jesus
will make it to the low part of heaven, the upper echelons are reserved for the good Mormons,
but if you leave the church, you're going down.
You're going to hell, according to them.
And so we see that both Islam and Mormonism both teach the same salvation, works-based.
It's based on how good you are, it's based on keeping the commandments, it's based on
doing what God has told you to do.
And you know, Allah is just another word for God, it's just Arabic for God, it's no different.
But Allah that they worship is not the God of the Bible, and the God that the Mormons
worship isn't the God of the Bible, and the God that the Jews worship isn't the God of
the Bible, because the Bible says if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father.
But it acknowledges that the Son hath the Father also.
And so we see that the similarities are striking.
How do I give the Gospel to Mormons?
I go through the same plan, but then at the end of it, if they don't believe it, they
don't believe it.
But if I get to the end of it and they do believe it, then I deal with this thing of
hey, you know, you need to believe in one God.
You need to get off this Mormon doctrine and believe in one God.
And I deal with those heresies at the end to make sure that they're not just trying
to add what I'm showing them to what they already believe.
The Word of God and the Gospel of Christ has to replace Mormonism.
It has to replace Islam.
It has to replace Catholicism.
It can't just be tagged on.
I'm a born-again Muslim.
No you're not.
I'm a born-again Mormon.
No you're not.
You can't tag that on.
It has to replace.
One time I gave the Gospel to a Muslim girl in Tempe, and I gave her the Gospel and she
believed it, she accepted it, she agreed with the doctrine of the Word of God that it was
salvation through Jesus Christ, that he was God in the flesh.
I spent a while with her and she finally got it.
And I said, let's pray right now.
I'm just going to help you just call upon the name of the Lord right now and just ask
Jesus to save you.
And she reached over and grabbed this Muslim-like necklace, and she said, okay, let's pray.
And I said, what is that?
What are you doing?
And she said, oh, she's like, I always, she said, I always have to hold this when I pray,
always.
I can't pray without holding this.
No, no, no.
You must reject that.
I said, this is not Muslim plus.
This is a replacement here.
You know, you can't believe both.
You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart.
And she sat there for a minute, torn, and she cast it aside, and called on the name
of the Lord and got saved.
But she had to do that.
You know, she can't just sit there and say, I want both.
You can't be both Buddhist and Christian, you can't be both Mormon and Christian, you
can't be both Islamic and Christian.
You must choose who is the true God, who is the Savior, who is the true Lord and Master,
and that is Jesus Christ and Him alone.
And there is no other world out there.