Moroni's God

      Moroni had a vision of God.  He said, "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." (Moroni 8:18)  Others have spoken of an ascending God.  Lorenzo Snow stated, "As man is, God Once was; as God now is, man may be."  Others have thought that God started as a spirit being who later became a man and ascended to godhood.  The God of Moroni did not have to ascend.  He has always been God.  He is the unchangeable being who has existed "from all eternity to all eternity."
      Moroni's God is the Great Spirit revealed by Ammon in Alma18:26-29:  "And then Ammon said: Believeth thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yea. And Ammon said: this is God.  And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?  And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth;..."  The exalted man that many people pray to did not create all things.  The exalted man did not create time and space.  He is limited to a physical body.  A physical body requires the existence of space to dwell.  It also requires time to exist in the created space.   The God of Moroni is not limited to a physical body.  He created physical bodies.  He created the time and space for physical bodies to exist in.  Before the beginning of time, he was God.  Before creation was created, he was God.  Moroni's God was revealed to the woman at the well in John 4:24, "God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
      For those who worship an exalted man, their god is simply one god of many.  Their god is the offspring of a father god.  This father god is the offspring of a grandfather god.  Their father god is simple one of many.  Moroni's God is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.  "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." (Isaiah 40:25)  "...I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he." (Isaiah 41:4)  "...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 saviour." (Isaiah 43:10&11)  "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)  God, who is onmiscient, made this statement in Isaiah 44:8:  "...Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."  Isaiah 45:5&6 says, "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:...That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:21 says, "...there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me."  The prophet continues this message in Isaiah 45:18&22, Isaiah 46:5&9 and Isaiah 48:11&12.
      The exalted/ascended man is a god that shares his glory.  His father shared glory with him.  His father's father shared glory with his father and so on through many generations of gods.  The God of Isaiah the prophet does not share his glory.  Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."  Isaiah 48:11 says, "...I will not give my glory unto another."
      2 Nephi 24:12-15 speaks of a glory seeker that wanted to be "like" the Most High.  "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."  God did not share His glory with Lucifer.
      In Genesis 11:1-9, there were glory seekers who became very proud.  The story is about the tower of Babel.  Verse 4 says, "...Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name,..."  Perhaps God saw in their hearts that they were trying to become LIKE gods.  Verse 7&8 says, "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they many not understand one another's speech.  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:..."  God did not share His glory with these tower builders.
      In the garden of Eden, the serpent came and tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit.  He gave her a promise of being like God.  He said, "For God doth know that in the day yea eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)  However, as a consequence for their sins, they were kicked out of their beautiful paradise, the garden of Eden.  God did not share his glory with Adam and Eve.
      In Luke 18:10-14, a pharisee felt exalted and proud.  He felt that he had ascended to a higher spiritual realm.  "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
      The God of Moroni does not share his glory.  He is the only true God!  He is the Great Spirit!  He did not have to ascend into godhood. He is the "unchangeable being" who is God "from all eternity to all eternity."

What is Anti-Mormon?

      What does anti-Mormon mean?  Is it someone who hates Mormons?  A young lady recently called me anti-Mormon and one who hates Mormons.  Was she right?

      Suppose two by-standers were watching a boat float down a river.  The first man said "everyone must choose the way that is right for himself.  Who am I to judge?"  So even thought he knew the people in the boat were headed to a 1,000 ft. waterfall which would be certain death on the rocks below, he put a smile on his face.  He simply said "Hope you enjoy this beautiful day on the river."  The second man appeared to be more contentious.  He was yelling at the folks enjoying their river ride.  He was jumping up and down hollering, "Get off the river.  You are going to die."  He didn't want anyone to die going over the deadly waterfall.  Which man hated the folks in the boat?  Did the nice, friendly man really care when he knew there was a dangerous water fall downstream?  Or did the loud, blunt, truthful man really care about the travelers?  Who was the real hater?  Which one really was concerned?

    Lorenzo Snow said, "As man now is, God once was; as God is now, man may become."  Stop praying to an exalted man.  This is a false god.  Turn to the true God in Moroni 8:18.  "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  God was never a man.  He has always been God from "all eternity to all eternity."  Does quoting Moroni make me a hater or someone who cares?

      Some say there is no hell.  It is just a mental state.  2 Nephi 28:21-23 tells us where this lie came from.  "And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.  And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none - and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.  Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment."  If I ignore the words of Nephi, does that make me a nice, responsible neighbor?

      Some people feel like repentance is a gradual process that may take years to complete.  Some hope to make a telestial or terrestrial kingdom without complete repentance. But we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  A car accident can quickly end our life.  Alma warned against procrastinating repentance.  Alma 34:31 says, "...now is the time and the day of your salvation;..."  Verse 33 says, "...do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end;...if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."  Verse 35 says, "...if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power of you; and this is the final state of the wicked."  Is it being contentious to actually take the words of Alma seriously?

      If you have concern for someone's well being or eternal destiny, are you a hater or someone who cares?  Is it possible to be genuinely concerned, speaking the truth in love?  What say you?
      Matthew 7:13&14 says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."