Clearing Away the Smoke

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”-Jude 3-4

​            This weekend I was blessed with the opportunity of being brought to Salt Lake City, Utah, to preach and minister outside the Mormon Conference. People come from around the world to this place as it is a rite in the Mormon religion. What better place could there be to contend for the true faith of Jesus Christ?
            The conference center was surrounded at every corner with Christian witnesses. It was amazing to see people from different churches from all over the nation coming to stand for the truth of Christ. I was with the Bible believers, which is a nationwide group of street preachers. The standard answer when asked what church we are from is we are Bible believing, Bible obeying Christians. This statement catches attention because people are used to standard answers usually claiming one of the mainstream denominations. What does it mean to be a Bible believer? Read the Bible and live your life according to what it says.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”-Luke 6:46

​                Ruben Israel is one of the founders of the group and a veteran street preacher, having almost forty years under his belt faithfully preaching across America. Love him or hate him one can only respect the tireless labor he has spent for the kingdom of God. Ruben has a unique testimony, as he did not come to salvation by way of any hardship or any catastrophe as so many of us do. He was raised in a Catholic family, taught to work hard and go to church. He simply read the Bible and believed it. Upon the revelation of God, he went to his priest who told him NOT to read the Bible, to leave that to the ‘anointed’ priesthood. At the end of the meeting, he was asked, “would he be in church next Sunday?” To which he replied, yes, and showed up outside with a bullhorn and a sign.  He has been at it faithfully ever since.
                This was the scene on Sunday afternoon as the conference was in session and we had a break. There were three young people who came up to our group, two young Christian ladies and a young Jewish man. They had questions: naturally being the elder in the group they gravitated toward Ruben. He sat patiently and listened to the young man describe his thoughts on faith, tolerance and the normal sensitivities of our pluralistic society. He claimed, as so many do, that if one was born a Mormon we should just respect that as a valid religion, as good as any other religion. This Ruben countered with the obvious elephant in the room which is these religions contradict and only one can be right. He made the point that he was an all or nothing person and he would expect the same from any religious person.
                He asked the young man the million-dollar question, which for the Jew is: since the temple has been destroyed and animal sacrifice has ceased, what do they do for forgiveness of sins? The young man stumbled for an answer very uncertain what to say. Then the heat was raised with the next question: why do you think God allowed the temple to be destroyed? The young man had no real answer.
                At this point one of the two young ladies spoke up and asked a question. Ruben answered and returned the question to her: if this young man is your friend why haven’t you shared the Gospel with him? Brother Ruben said, something about how many Christians just believe that the Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’ and will go to heaven regardless. He asked if she knew what they were chosen for? She said she had often wondered about that. It was great to witness these interactions. These young people were really intrigued as Ruben explained the purpose of Israel in the bringing forth of our Lord and Saviour which led directly into the Gospel. 

​“And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”-Isaiah 49:6
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”-I Corinthians 15:3-4

            At this point, another man who had sat down asked if he could ask a question. He was an ex Mormon. He said he didn’t know what to believe. This is when things get real, when we come to the bottom of ourselves and realize that we don’t know the truth and at the same time recognizing our need for a savior. The enemy of our souls loves to keep the way clouded, making it seem as though there are lots of good options which can get you to heaven. Jesu cut through all of that when He said, “I am the way the truth and the life no can come to heaven except by me[1].”
            About this time the conference was released and so it was time to get back to preaching. Brother Ruben asked me to take his banner so he could talk privately with the ex-Mormon who was seeking the truth. No agenda here this Brother sacrificed at least an hour of his time with this man. Some men would have given him a card and sent him along so they could preach, but not Ruben. I was blessed to be able to hear this brother answer dozens of questions as I was holding the banner while the people poured out of the conference center. What an amazing day!
            The day before there was a similar scene where there was a Mormon dressed as Satan, another who appeared to be Catholic with the rosary beads and the St. Christopher etc. (though he claimed he wasn’t), a high ranking member of the Mormon church, and an actual Christian all standing in front of a banner that quoted Jesus saying, “Beware of false prophets[2]!” One of the answers I heard Ruben give spoke to this.  He was asked why Christians have so many Bible translations, to which he explained the devil’s tactic of misinformation.

[1] Jn. 14:6  [2] Mt. 7:15; I Ti. 4

​“Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.”-Psalm 97:2

​                People say just preach the Gospel, Christ and Him crucified, however, this has a fatal flaw; Catholics, Mormons and Muslims all claim to believe in Christ. Deeper study must be given in order to distinguish that we are talking of the Jesus of the Bible. Paul said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed[1].” He also said, “Preach the Word”[2], that is the Holy Bible. There are 66 books given all of which can be used to describe the only begotten Son of God, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. This is how we clear the smoke: proclaiming the Word. This is the smoke and mirrors that the enemy uses to deceive, it is easily seen when the blind eye is opened by faith. As it is written, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God[3]!”

[1] Ga. 1:8-9 [2] II Ti. 4:2 [3] Rm. 10:17

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Hallelujah!!!