AboutGene Black Expertise I can answer questions related to LDS beliefs and history as well as doctrinal questions pertaining to the standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.) I believe strongly in personal revelation and hope that all answers I provide will be carefully considered, and prayed about before being accepted.
Experience I've been a member of the LDS Church all of my life, have served a mission for the Church, have been sealed to my wife in the Washington, DC temple, and enjoy reading books on LDS history and the teachings of the prophets.
Organizations The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Education/Credentials A love for people and a strong desire to seek after the word of God. I try hard to follow the command "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."
Question How are you Gene,
The bible say Satan will pretend angel deceive the elect (matt 24;24)(2 corit 11;14) in the end time .we should not so easy to believe if any spirit come to us that claim they are God's angel ( 2 tim 1;1)
My question is have you ever though " Satan will pretend angel to deceive us ,did Joseph Smith test the angel ?
For EX Islamic prophet Muhammad ,who met God's angel 500 yr after Jesus. Gabriel is the archangel responsible for revealing the Qur'an to Muhammad, verse by verse. Gabriel is known as the angel who communicates with (all of) the prophets.
Funny, in Luke 1;26-28, God send Gabriel to Mary about the good news of Jesus, but the Gabriel did not speak to Muhammad about Jesus 500 yr later, today Islamic become the most dangerous Antichrist
Two angel Gabriel from God, one must be false.
In youtube site, if you search “inside cult” there is a pastor Michael from seventh days advance church, who claim God came to him one night and said he is Jesus return to save the world ,of because he did not test if this was true God or not than believe and accepted his power . he was in jail at 2007 for sexual contact with his minor follower .
before you become LDS, have you ever though "did JS test the spirit ? (1 john 4;1-3)
Jesus love you :)
Answer No, in all honesty, I've never had the thought as to whether Joseph Smith "tested" the Spirit when he had the first vision. Probably because it would never had made sense to me to do so. Let me explain.
First, I do not believe in the Church because Joseph Smith said it was true or because of the many miracles he claimed to have witnessed. I believe the Church is true because I have studied it, read the scriptures, prayed about it, and God Himself through His Holy Spirit has told me it is true - the same as He will tell any man who in the sincerity of his heart will study the matter and prayerfully ask God concerning it. After all, if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed God's church, how could we possibly expect God to not testify of it to those who ask? Are the scriptures not full of instances where we are told to "ask and ye shall receive" or "knock and it shall be opened unto you" or "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God" or a great many other similar statements? Faith, naturally, is required, but if a man does not have faith, why would he bother asking? When deciding to join the Church, the question a person should be asking is not whether someone else has tested the spirit so to speak, but whether they themselves have done so. The scriptures themselves plainly tell us that no man can even claim that Jesus is the Christ unless he receives such a witness for himself from the Holy Ghost - to do so would be to make the proclamation in ignorance not knowing (1st Corinthians 12:3)
Second, there are a great many instances in the history of the Church where Satan has done exactly as you've warned against here - he's appeared as an angel of light, brought about miracles as we have record of his followers doing elsewhere in the scriptures, and attempted to cause general discord and mayhem.
Because of this, Joseph Smith did indeed, on a number of occasions, teach the ways in which the works and ministers, and even Satan himself could be detected so one could avoid being deceived. One of the more obvious points is that Satan does not do the work of God. He works to deceive, to mislead, etc. Nor will the Holy Spirit testify that Satan is anything but what he is. Heavenly messengers are always accompanied by a testimony from the Holy Spirit as to who they are if one will but listen to the Holy Spirit. In St. John 15:26 you have an example of Christ teaching that the Comforter (the Holy Ghost) would testify of him. Examples of this happening would include Luke 24:32.
Third, I am certain that Joseph Smith had no need to "test the spirit" when he was visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. To have seen God and lived, Joseph would have had to have been caught up by the Holy Spirit to such an extent that is almost beyond my comprehension - but given my own experiences I can say without doubt that through the Spirit Joseph would have known the truth with a certainty in that instance and had no need to ask - particularly after he had just been assaulted by Satan himself to such an extent that it appeared he feared for his own life. It's best said in his own words:
(Take from Joseph Smith History, Chapter 1)
"
10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
"
Do you believe a man could honestly experience that and not know the truth of the experience? Of course the question for the rest of us really isn't whether Joseph was deceived, but whether he was telling the truth. If it's God's truth, God will testify of it, just as He's done for me. I know it's true not because of Joseph, but because of God.
Only a true prophet could bring forth truth such as can be found in the Book of Mormon. I encourage you to read it, study it, compare it to the Bible, and then as the last prophet to write in the Book of Mormon (Moroni) recommended (Moroni 10:3-5) - pray about it and ask God for yourself if it's true. If you ask with faith in the sincerity of your heart - willing to do whatever it may be that God asks of you - you'll get your answer and you won't need the testimony of me, of Joseph Smith, or of any other man to tell you whether or not it's true. On the other hand, until you've done that, you'll never really know whether it is or isn't true.
