Mormons make a claim that the Father and Jesus appeared unto Joseph Smith while He was praying. However, this argument can easily be defeated because of the following verses…
Nobody can see God’s face in this life and continue living…
“And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:20,23)
Nobody can see God and at any time because He is Spirit…
“No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1:18)
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:12,13)
Nobody can see God and at any time. Only Jesus is able to in this life…
“Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” (John 6:46,47)
This is because the Father is Spirit, and while in our bodies, we can only hear Him, but not see Him.
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
Mormons point to this verse that says Moses saw the Lord Face to Face. But notice this is the Lord that talked to Moses. A belief in the Holy Trinity makes sense of this. This is because Jesus appeared to many people in the Old Covenant times, which is permitted. I am talking about Moses, Abraham, Jacob, and others…
“And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.” (Exodus 33:11)
Mormons are wrong when they claim that individuals with the priesthood can see the Father’s face and live. See below for that contradictory statement…
“And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.” (Doctrine And Covenants 84:21,22)
In conclusion, Joseph Smith didn’t even have the Mormon priesthood when he supposedly saw the Father. This makes the verse in Doctrine And Covenants 84 null and void. Nothing can contradict the Bible, so we know for a fact that Joseph Smith, and not even Stephen, saw the face of the Father. Stephen simply saw Jesus standing next to the Father.
“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55,56)
It is my testimony that Joseph Smith was a false prophet, and the Mormon church is not of God. Amen.