Brad Wilcox could easily have said
P is for playing, for as he continues to teach the Mormon youth, he tells them
that all, except Mormons, are playing at church.
Here he again speaks of what the
Mormon church truly believes. According to Mormon doctrine, all other churches
have no authority to administer any sacraments (sacred ordinances), neither can
they aid you as you seek to return to Heavenly Father. They are not churches
approved of by God – no they are just playing church.
Authority and Priesthood
Brad continues his denigration of mainstream Christianity by saying:
‘They’re
sincere, they want it to count, but they don’t have the authority. They don’t
have God’s permission. So that the things they do really count on Earth and in
eternity. Man, I want what I’m doing to count. And to be able to have that, we
have to have the priesthood. We have to have that.’
What
does he mean by authority and priesthood?
From
its beginnings the Mormon church has taught it is the restored church of Jesus
Christ. It teaches that the authority Jesus gave to the early church was lost after
the death of the Apostles. Since then, the church has been in a state of total
apostasy. That was until, in nineteenth century America when, through the
prophet Joseph Smith, God re-established authority to the church through the restoration
of the priesthood.
‘Our Heavenly Father has great power. This power is
called the priesthood. By this priesthood power the heavens and the earth were
created. By this power, the universe is kept in perfect order. Our Heavenly
Father shares his priesthood power with his children on the earth. It is the
power and authority by which those are ordained to this power act in his name
to do his work… We must have priesthood authority to act in the name of God to
perform the sacred ordinances of the gospel…. If a man does not have the
priesthood, even though he may be sincere, the Lord will not recognize
ordinances performed by him… Men need the priesthood to preside in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church)…’[1]
Mormonism
teaches that there are two priesthoods, which are available to men only, and
they can only be found within the LDS Church. It is only those who hold the
so-called Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood, that have authority from God. That
is why converts to Mormonism, from a Christian church, would need to be re-baptised because these sacred ordinances were not presided over by someone
with authority.
‘Presumptuous and
blasphemous are they who purport to baptize, bless, marry, or perform other
sacraments in the name of the Lord while in fact lacking his specific
authorization’[2]
Marriage
To
drive home his point, Brad launches into a tale of when he had a conversation
with a lady who had just been to her wedding rehearsal. She was apparently
upset because the preacher had said the words ‘till death us do part’. She
said: “I feel like I’m getting divorced. The day I’m getting married”. Brad tells
of how he saw this as a ‘missionary moment’, an opportunity to tell her that
his church believed that marriage could be for time and eternity.
He
goes on:
‘So
she went to the minister, and she said, “May I write my own ceremony?”, and he
said, “For an extra fee”. So she paid the extra money, and she wrote her own
ceremony. And I sat there in that Protestant church and listened as the
preacher sealed them for time and all eternity. I couldn’t believe it. I mean,
I’m freaking out. I’m like, “Whoa!” Everybody in the church was like, “That is
so special”, I was like, “That is so wrong! That’s just, like, wrong!.
Like lightning bolt wrong.” Why? It’s a free country. They can say whatever
they want to say. Why did I feel it was wrong? Authority. No authority. They
just didn’t have permission to say those words. And so did it count eternally?
No, because they were playing church, and in our church, we
don’t play church. We have the authority to make that count on Earth
and in heaven. And that is something I don’t want to say goodbye to.’
Brad
was right to say that the preacher officiating at this lady’s wedding had no
authority to seal the couple for time and all eternity, but not for the reasons
Brad believes.
Jesus
on Marriage
Concerning
marriage Jesus, in answering the Sadducees questions regarding the
resurrection, said:
“You are wrong, because you
know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in
the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but
are like angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:29-30)
Now
Brad says the preacher was wrong to say what he said because he didn’t have the
authority of the Mormon priesthood, but, the preacher was wrong to say those
words because he didn’t have the authority of Scripture. He, like Brad, is
wrong because he ‘knew not the Scriptures nor the power of God’. Mormonism
contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus on the issue of marriage.
Now I
understand why they may long for marriage for time and eternity. It is
difficult for us to comprehend leaving behind all we know and love. But I would
propose that we will be so taken by the object of our worship, with God Himself,
that all we have known in this life will pale into insignificance.
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living
creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of
myriads and thousands of thousands, saying
with a loud voice,
“Worthy
is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive
power and wealth and wisdom and might
and
honour and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under
the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him
who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing
and honour and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the
elders fell down and worshipped.
Revelation 5:11-14
Charles Spurgeon said:
“You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.”
In making
an idol of marriage and the family, Mormons fail to truly glory in God.
In part two, I will address the most
controversial part of Brad’s talk, the part for which he had to make a public
apology.
[1] Gospel Principles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p.73
[2] Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.494
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