Perfect! I too belong to one of the churches that Joseph Smith said was apostate. [Greyfoxx39]
Hmm…I seem to recall a certain Book of Mormon passage:
9 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil.
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (1 Nephi 14:9-10, Book of Mormon)
Tis a very fitting passage to cite on this thread, given McConkie’s original 1958 Mormon Doctrine took his labeling of the Catholic church as a “whore” from Mormon “scriptures” like this!
If Mormons interpret the Mormon church to be ”the church of the Lamb of God” and everybody else belongs to “the church of the devil” then why would we need to identify our precise church homes when Mormons already claimed to have done so on our behalf? (They claim they already know where we “worship”…and somehow, we are branded as somehow “intolerant”???)
But if we believe the book of Revelation…then that tells a different story. How?
(1) Mormons believe they’ll be married forever. Their primary devotion will be to their future spouse, who they believe will be a god. So, their devotion will be to a new god. The Bible has a name for that…it’s called “idolatry.” (And don’t give me, “But they’ll split that devotion between one god and another god"…the Bible doesn’t go for that, either…see 2 Kings 17)
(2) Christians. on the other hand, believe our “marriage” in heaven will be to the “Lamb of God” – a “marriage” if you will of service, intimate communication, commitment, devotion, love, compassion, trust, faithfulness, loyalty, mutual edification, identification as “one,” etc. – not simply what our culture has reduced it to – as mere physical sex. 2 Corinthians 11 mentions this. So does Ephesians 4. So do Christ’s parables. So does the last several chapters of Revelation.
"Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' "And he added, "These are the true words of God."(Rev. 19:9)
"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." (Rev. 21:9)
Per, the Bible...the entire church therefore is a form of "she" -- if the bride is the church, and the church is the wife of the lamb. Now do we take that literally? Are men going to have "surgeries" entering into heaven? How silly.
In heaven, we will move beyond the earthly idolatry of physical sex, which the Lord created as a gift to us, in which we have badly exploited and abused. The church being the “bride of the Lamb” is anything but about mere physical sex and earthly gender identities.
We need to go back to the original question of why Eve was created. She was created to be a “helpmate.” She was “born” of Adam’s rib. The true Church of the Lamb (not the Mormon church) is one “born” of Jesus’ side – of blood and water – His side where His ribcage was, when the spear pierced it…
…one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." (John 19:34-37)
Therefore, we, too, as the universal Church of Christ…will be His eternal “helpmate”:
”The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” (Rev. 22:3)
Besides all this, I already answered what church we belong to on the first McConkie Mormon Doctrine thread. Here’s what I said:
Now Protestants didn't escape McConkie's scathing pen, either. Here's a brief excerpt from his 1979 version:
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not Protestants, and the Church itself is not a Protestant Church. (p. 610)
Yes, "Brother" Bruce...the cross is indeed a "dead tree."
We Protestants are humble members of the Church of the Dead Tree. And like the apostle Paul, we glory in it! This dead tree -- the cross -- is paradoxically our source of life!
Excellent!