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The LDS just feel that Christiandom does not have the whole story and therefore that is why we always seem to talk pass each others.

I wish that it were merely talking past each other.

That does indeed happen a lot in the Body of Christ where one Christian looks into the revelation of God in Scripture and truly sees something a bit differently than another Christian looking into the same revelation truly sees.

The Apostles themselves were quite different – John was not like Peter who was not like Paul who was not like James who was not doubting Thomas. And they each had a different perspective, as if all were looking into the same diamond but from different facets. James was focused on the fruits of the Spirit, the works. Peter was focused on the body of Christ, the church. John was focused on the Person of Christ, loving Him. Paul was focused on the Faith, the doctrines. And so on. But it is the same diamond (Scripture) and the same Light, God.

Your subsequent post asks that there be no contention between LDS and non-LDS. Whereas love must be unconditional (Matt 5-7) and we are to be gentle with all men (2 Timothy 2:24-26) the contention will not end, because the difference between LDS and Christianity goes to Who Christ IS as I tried to explain in post 135.

The LDS extra-Scriptural revelations from latter day prophets declares that Christ is a creature from the spiritual realm, not the Creator of “all that there is” which includes both physical and spiritual. Indeed, it has the Father as a creature as well, self-contained individual identities in an infinite genealogy of spiritual creatures. Neither Father nor Son are “the” God or “the” Creator.

We Christians ask man and spirit “Who is Christ?” If the answer denies Him, the rejection is swift and severe. And understandably, hurtful.

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. - I Corinthians 12:3

Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, [The Son] of David. - Matthew 22:42

And we must ask that question to try the spirits. (I John 4) Satan can appear as an angel of light when he actually is speaking lies:

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. - Genesis 3:4-5

First he accuses God of lying, then he tells Eve the lie, that by disbelieving God, she can become like God.

Moreover, once we know Who HE IS, worshipping Him as a creature and not The Creator is perilous:

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.– Romans 1:20-32

We must never anthropomorphize God. God is not made in the image of man.

For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9

To return to your excerpts, the LDS backstory - evidently by your quoting of Revelation 12, LDS doctrine perceives the passage to be speaking of the past and not of what shall happen in the future. I do not discern that passage that way.

On one point though we do agree, i.e. that we Christians do not have the whole story. But that is according to God’s will for us.

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. – Daniel 12:4

And concerning one ancient manuscript, the Book of Enoch, I do find myself at odds with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ who dismiss it out of hand.

Most importantly, I do not receive Enoch as Scripture. Scriptures – the words of God – are brought alive in me by the indwelling Spirit.

This and other ancient manuscripts are illuminating but they are not living.

And Enoch, whose true antiquity was only recently confirmed by its discovery in the Dead Sea Scrolls, offers a backstory mostly consistent with Scripture whereas LDS embraces a counter-Scriptural latter day revelation. Enoch of course is quoted directly in Jude and indirectly elsewhere in Scripture.

More specifically, it expounds on Genesis 6 – the errant angels and their offspring, the demons, the purpose of the Flood, the Elect One (Jesus), the final judgments and that those errant angels are imprisoned by God until the end of days. It begins by speaking a blessing to the reader who will be here for that time, the end of days. Because it is written for them, some see it as the book referred to by Daniel.

The current status of the errant angels are confirmed in the words of God:

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. – Jude 1:6

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; - 2 Peter 2:4

Satan however is still at work and will be until the end:

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. - 2 Cor 11:14

Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. - John 8:44

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. - 2 Th 2:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - James 4:7

His end has been written:

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. - Revelation 20:10

Enoch is ancient and mostly consistent with the words of God in Scripture, indeed it is quoted. But the LDS latter day revelations, on the other hand, are not. They are a “just so” story that denies Who God Is and adds to the words of God or modifies them rather than merely illuminating them.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. - Deuteronomy 4:2

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. – Luke 9:35

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book. – Revelation 22:19

Other than that I would point out that there are many perceptions about how the end of days will play out. And I do not wish to go into them here but will point to a research project just to illustrate the variety and to observe that if God wanted us to know precisely, He would reveal it to us explicitly in Scripture which are the words of God and are both spirit and life.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. – John 6:63

Instead, He has revealed it to us generally pointing to signs of His coming and the end of the age so that we can be watchful, believing Him and trusting Him.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. – Matthew 24:42

I encourage you and all LDS to mediate on God's Name, I AM. He is The Creator, not a creature.

So be it Alamo-Girl

To Whom It May Concern.

Hear the prophecy of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (HC, 4:540.)

Christian denominations the world over have prayed for centuries for the kingdom of God to come. We earnestly and publicly declare: that day is now here!

To Latter-day Saints the world over, we say: Let not your hearts be troubled. Keep the commandments of God. Follow the counsel of his living prophet, taking care not to exceed the counsel with your own private views. Teach your children to walk uprightly before the Lord. Pray in your homes morning and evening. Pray for civil magistrates and leaders even when you do not agree with them. Pray for the leaders of the Church. Pray, as you have been counseled, that the doors of nations of the world will be opened to the preaching of the gospel. Obey the laws of your country; rebel not against civil authority. Do your duty as citizens. “Do not yield to the bad, but always oppose it with good.” (Virgil.)

To all who have allegiance to the kingdom of God, we say: “Seek ye … first the kingdom of God.” (Matt. 6:33.) “Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations; And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” (D&C 115:5–6.)

Yes, “Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth.

“Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come.” (D&C 65:5–6.)

I bear humble witness that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored kingdom of God on earth today. Its message and blessings are for all of our Father’s children. It is the truth, to which I bear grateful testimony in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ezra Taft Benson, “‘May the Kingdom of God Go Forth’,” Ensign, May 1978, 32