False Messages

In 1820, there was a man in the region of New York near Palmyra by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. known for being a treasure hunter. He was known for being obsessed with finding and using occult seer stones to divine for buried treasure. Joseph Smith recalls an encounter in the woods near his home to pray and inquire of God which of all the Christian churches was right and which one he should join. In chapter 2 of his book titled The Pearl of Great Price, he tells us that while he was praying that “thick darkness” gathered around him. His tongue was held bound so that he could not speak and he was sinking into despair, ready to succumb to this “actual being from the unseen world who had such marvelous powers”, when all of the sudden there appeared over his head a pillar of light in which were two personages. He asked these personages, these beings of light, which Christian church was right and which one should he join. Here is the answer he claims to have received:

“I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all of their creeds were an abomination in his sight, and that all their teachers were corrupt.”

This moment in 1820 was the moment that opened the door to Mormonism. A messenger of light told an occult stone user named Joseph Smith that all Christian churches were wrong and that all the teachings of Christianity were an abomination.

If only Joseph Smith would have heeded the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:4, 13-15:

For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

God’s Word makes it clear that angels are messengers of the Most High, and I’ve also learned that these powerful messengers are sent directly from God to carry out His plans. I wonder how many of the world’s cults and false teachings would have been curtailed if they had checked the messengers words to Scripture? I wonder how many people have been deceived because “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” just as he did for Joseph Smith? Are angels powerful? Yes. Is their primary purpose to deliver God’s important messages and carry out His plan? Yes. But as followers of Christ, we must always make sure the message of the messengers lines up with the one who sent the message.

Joshua Kirsch
Middle School Pastor