Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 4-6 | April 29-May 5 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Mosiah 4-6 | April 29-May 5 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Welcome back. I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson and this
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is Jack Welch. We're thrilled to be able to
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finish up King Benjamin's sermon here.
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One of the most beautiful sermons in all the history of
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the known sermons given in this world.
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It is so inspiring. And today we get to finish up
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chapters 4-5 and six. Not only do we have a lot of
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ideas on this, but Scripture Central and the previous Book of
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Mormon Central had many. I I think it was 17 different No
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whys are short little videos that have fabulous information
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on King Benjamin's sermon. Jack, what are your favorites?
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Favorite No whys. On these on King Benjamin's
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sermon, yeah. Well, well, they're all Which of
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my children are my favorites? You know, These are so good.
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But bleeding from every pore that's in.
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No. Why #520?
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There's one on the Day of Atonement.
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We're talking here about how the atonement, and this seems to be
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connected with the Feast of Tabernacles on the Jewish
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festival calendar. We have a know why 479 on how
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the scapegoat was used to carry away our sins, symbolizing as a
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type and shadow which Benjamin actually uses those words of
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Christ and how he would come. So there are lots of fun, little
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and shareable explanations of these things.
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Earlier we had talked about the whole sermon is beautifully
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connected and intertwined and chiastically organized so that
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the center point is on the coming to the realization and
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accepting of the atonement. But today we are going to start
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looking at where we start with the people's reaction.
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They've heard the sermon and now we get to hear their
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willingness, their humility, to enter into this covenant.
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Do we ever express our willingness?
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We we do, and we say yes. We may just bow our head and say
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yes, but we express our willingness.
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And here they view themselves in their own physical state, carnal
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state, and less than the dust of the earth.
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You know we are made of the elements of the earth.
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And we. Are less, and we are even less,
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because at least the earth will obey God, and we sometimes do
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not. Notice that they they do call
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out, don't they? It says they cried aloud when
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one voice. And what do they say?
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Oh have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ, that we
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may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be
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purified. For we believe in Jesus Christ,
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the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things
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who shall come down among the children of men.
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And Benjamin, of course, has included that.
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He just saw it. This is a little paraphrase of
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that ten word name that Benjamin received from the Angel and.
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I was in chapter 3. It shortened a little so that
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there are not quite so many words.
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Seven Though Jesus Christ, Son of God, Creator, Heaven, earth,
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all things. But now they're filled with the
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Spirit, which I see this as a being born again.
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You know, the Spirit is the cleansing agent.
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Joseph Smith taught that over and over.
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It's not the baptism that cleanses you, it's the Spirit
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that can cleanse you. And the I see Christ having
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implemented the Atonement, but the Spirit is what carries it
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into our own lives. It transfers the Atonement into
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us. And it's not just thinking.
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It's the spirit. You know when that comes upon
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you, you feel that it's, we call it, the burning in the bosom.
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And when you've been cleansed, it's called the the baptism by
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fire. You know, it's it's a real
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feeling when you feel the forgiveness of the Lord.
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And what does this give them? They were filled with joy,
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having received a remission of sins and having peace of
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conscience. This text is so real because it
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does reflect the details of an actual spiritual experience like
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this. How hard repentance is, and we
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have to go through the depths of despair before we get our peace.
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And it's just the peace of conscience when you when you
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think maybe of a peaceful lake. OK.
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And you know the the the water is calm and you know it's not
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bubbling up and you know your conscience.
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When it is peaceful, you're calm about it.
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It it it no longer hounds you or makes you feel inadequate or
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problems That this, the atonement, can give you that
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peace, my peace I give unto you, Jesus says.
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But it's only when we trust in him if we still think what
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should I have done or what could I do?
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Those nagging. Yeah, those aren't the issues.
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The issue is I have to trust in God.
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I I trust that he has the power of forgiveness and then that
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great blessing of peace. And it it comes in in this case,
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and I think it comes in many cases, as we participate in
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ordinances like baptism and we know that we are doing what the
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Lord has required. This piece, Benjamin didn't say
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to people. We'll just go out in the forest
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and think for a little while and when you feel good about
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yourself, come back. No, he actually gives a whole
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set of things that we have to do in order to receive a change of
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heart and to maintain it. Right.
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And we talked about those last time.
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These are kind of conditions of the covenant and and those
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conditions are for our good. They're not just barriers that
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stand in our way, but they are preconditions to make this
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feeling possible. And they have felt it and we, we
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can experience and relate to this.
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But notice how specific and how I I I just love how detailed
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this comment and all of these words are.
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It says to me that this is not fiction.
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We are getting here a historical record that is precise and is
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accurately describing what they actually were feeling.
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Well, having them respond that way now allowed Benjamin and
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verse 4 to again open his mouth and begin speaking unto them.
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How does he address them? Here, my friends and my
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brethren. And my kindred and my people.
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And so he says, OK, going to call attention.
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Let's get back to work. There's more to be done here.
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And and you'd think, why doesn't it stop right here?
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They've been born again and they've or had the spirit.
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Maybe our sinning will begin with a lack of faith and we need
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to be instructed on how we can properly believe.
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And Benjamin knows this, and he says, all right, you've you've
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done well. Verse six, you've come to a
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knowledge of the goodness of God and his matchless power and
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wisdom and patience and all of that.
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But there's more. We must be faithful after we
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have entered into this covenant. And faithfulness, as we've often
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said, doesn't just mean believing or thinking.
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It means actually acting and doing.
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Yeah, he calls it in the middle of verse 6.
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Be diligent in keeping the commandments and continue in the
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faith. I I just feel like I become
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selfish. I become tired, I become lazy.
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It's not that I'm wicked, I just.
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I just become a little prideful and I want things my way instead
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of always thinking about other people and always thinking about
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what God. Well, and and we need strength.
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We need help from each other and from the Lord.
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And it's when we fail to turn to those righteous sources that we
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may feel overwhelmed in some way.
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Now we've talked about belief and faith.
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It's both action. It's faith is both mental and
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physical. It is thinking and acting.
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Yes, I believe so. And it's loyal.
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So what Benjamin now first does, he wants to tell us what we
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should do from a believing point of view.
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I counted them up. There's six beliefs here.
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That's right. And then the final part, that
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the rest of this chapter will be then spent on what we need to
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do. OK, so let's What are these six
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things? Believe in God.
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OK, number one, we believe in God.
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Sounds like the first article of faith.
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Sounds like the first of the 10 commandments.
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And what do we need to believe about God?
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Believe that He is and that He created all things both in
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heaven and on earth, which I also feel like goes into this
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temple text of the law of consecration.
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Because it's his, It's not ours, it's His earth.
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We are just stewards of everything.
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And then #3 believe that He has all wisdom.
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Number four, He has all power both in heaven and earth.
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And this is what Benjamin's talking about With omnipotence,
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yes. And he.
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And it's not just power in heaven, but also He has all
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power on Earth as the Creator. He put it all together and He
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could take it all apart if He wanted.
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So He has all power on earth as well as in heaven.
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And then the fifth time he uses belief, believe that man does
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not comprehend all things which the Lord can't comprehend.
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Is that hard for us to believe? Oh, it is such a problem because
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right now we have such an ability to hear what other
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people are thinking and to hear the others ideas that we're
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bombarded with ideas that are not from God.
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And so we have to trust God knows the end from the
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beginning. It's also hard in my own life
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when I want something now I want a job, I want a a marriage, I
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want a child, I want whatever it is, you know, I want it on my
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times table. And we have to realize, no, we
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have to believe. You do not understand God's
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timing and wisdom. Why does Benjamin say we have to
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believe that we do not comprehend all things?
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What do you think it is? Well, I I think we have to
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recognize our limits. And it's not wise to argue with
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someone who knows more about something than you do.
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Meaning. God, yes.
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Exactly. And so he's he's giving us an
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array of different things that will be helpful for us to
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believe it. Keeps us humble, Jack.
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We're meek when we realize that. Yeah, And that's coming up.
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I think that when we ponder something, we we take it apart.
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We dissect it, and to analyze means to take the pieces apart.
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But when we synthesize, we put things back together again.
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And I think here we're getting a good example of breaking down
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the elements of belief and a good checklist.
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Do I believe this? I've got a problem.
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Let me begin with #1 or #2, adjusting my faith to be in tune
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with who God is and what he knows.
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And once you've done that, and you've analyzed and taken the
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pieces apart, then you turn to synthesizing.
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And that's when you put things back together.
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Well, I think that's what he's talking about with the next
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belief, because it's and again believe that we must repent.
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And isn't repent just doing exactly what you said,
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deconstructing and then reconstructing?
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You know, why am I behaving this way?
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Why am I doing these things? And how can I change?
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How can I return to God? Put the pieces back together
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properly or repair broken parts and it will run better.
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What does that mean to forsake them?
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Leave them behind, do not repeat them.
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And I think repent for me is return to my loyalty to the
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Father and the Son. That's right, because we do
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become servants of the devil if we we serve him, it says.
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King Benjamin taught that very well.
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And to forsake like you say it means to leave.
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Just leave them behind. We must believe.
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We must repent and forsake and humble.
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And ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you.
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And that to me is the key. If we can go through that
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process of stopping it and really changing our heart and
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sincerely pleading before the Lord forgive forgiveness, that's
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when we be feel that joy. And he finally says, and now if
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you believe all these things, see that ye do them.
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So that's when our six believes are finished and now we're going
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to turn to the doing. And that's where it really gets
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interesting and where it begins. Verse 11 is where we now start
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with the doing. I say unto you, as I have said
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before, that as you have come to a knowledge of the glory of God,
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if he have known of his goodness, and he starts listing
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them, so you've come to this knowledge, and you have tasted
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of the love, and have received a remission of your sins which
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they've just experienced, and it caused such great joy in your
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souls. Even so I would that you should
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remember and always retain in remembrance the greatness of God
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your own nothingness, His goodness and long-suffering
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towards you unworthy creatures, And humble yourselves even in
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the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily,
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and stand steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come.
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And that's more than a checklist.
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This is a beautiful chiasmus, and the center is your own
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nothingness. If we would remember to be
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humble, we could repent a little bit easier.
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What do you think it means to retain in remembrance?
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To retain, you know, means to hold on to OK, and it takes
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effort to retain. And as we get older, it's harder
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to remember things. Amen.
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In any condition, if you don't relive things, if you don't
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repeat things, it will fade out of your active awareness and you
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don't want that to happen. That's why we go to church every
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Sunday. We partake of the sacrament, we
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pray. We read our scriptures.
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And talk to people and share with.
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And we serve others. This is all part of the
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retaining. Yeah, and what we must retain is
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an awareness of our own nothingness.
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Tell me what Latter Day Saints should take away from that.
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Are we really nothing? I don't think nothingness means
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valueless. What do you think it means?
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You're right. I think it it has to couple with
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First of all, you remember the greatness of God and in
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comparison are nothingness. And if we lose that, if we don't
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retain in remembrance of the greatness of God, then it means
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we are replacing God with something else.
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And it's usually our natural man, our own want.
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It's our own desires. Let me just say, as we conclude
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this little section of of Admonitions by Benjamin, there
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are little posters or postcards that you can get.
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You might make one for yourself on believe.
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Here's your list of beliefs and put it on your refrigerator.
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So we have the change into our next section, the 6th section on
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what to do starting in chapter 4, verse 13, let.
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Me give a little overview of this section on what Benjamin
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would like us to do. OK, unless what he wanted his
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people to do. And So what is it that Benjamin
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wants us and his people to do? They're basically three areas
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that he will focus on here. OK?
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He mentions them in the first half of this section and will
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then mention them again in the opposite order in the
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second-half. Not surprising.
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To review. And you know, if you say it
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once, say it twice, maybe people will remember, but they deal
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with property. What should you do with property
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and distributing it? And secondly, what you should do
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in teaching your children and others to obey the laws of God.
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And finally, the importance of giving to the poor and the
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beggars. Again, creating a science
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society, the law of consecration, making sure there
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is no poor among us. Now I'm sure there are many
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other things he could have included, but we might ponder
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why these things. Well, he said, I I really loved
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this statement When he says if you want to retain this
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remission, if you'll feed the poor, if you'll clothe the
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naked, if you'll teach your children.
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And I don't think he's just talking about our own.
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I think it's my responsibility, my community, to help out in any
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way I can. And it's not just the young
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ones. I think he's talking about all
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those that are within our sphere.
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I think that's right. And I think when we ask God to
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give us a lot of things, maybe it's fair for him to ask us to
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do some giving too. And in distributing our property
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and fulfilling our debts and obligations, Benjamin wants to
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be sure that we not only do that with our fellow beings, but
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we're asking God to fulfill his covenants to us.
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So it's fair for us to need to do that.
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So I think if you think about it, this isn't just social
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justice. This is justice in the context
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of covenant making with God. I love the fact that he
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carefully crafts verse 14. Suffer your children that they
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go not hungry and naked. Neither will you suffer that the
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transgressor of the laws of God fight, and they quarrel with one
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another. And I thought, how do you stop
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your children from fighting and quarreling?
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And then he tells you how I I love this.
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But he will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and
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soberness. You will teach them to love one
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another and to serve one another.
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So in the middle of the fight, you may not be able to calm them
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down right then. But if you for hours and hours
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every day work on let's follow what Christ taught, let's go
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back to the scriptures. Let's follow our Savior.
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I think we will stop the quarreling and the fighting.
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And not just in our with children, but in our
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communities, in our churches, in our schools.
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If we can follow the principles of Jesus Christ to love one
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another and serve one another, I think we will stop the
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contention. Yeah, I do too.
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And I think we learn a lot from Benjamin about service.
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And one of the things I think he wants us to learn is that we
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want God to serve us. We we would like to be helped in
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ways, but if we're not willing to help other people.
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So God is asking us, please serve.
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And we will learn to be more like God when we do what He
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does, which is serving. You will teach them to walk in
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the ways of truth and soberness. What about soberness?
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Well, sometimes it's from in drinking things you shouldn't
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and sometimes it's just from bad behavior when you're angry or
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whatever, you're not being very sober.
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I think it's being clear minded, is that it?
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I think so, and a lot of things can fuzz your clarity of
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thought. Lack of.
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Sleep even. And it might be drugs, it might
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be other things. But here we have an admonition
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to to be be sober. It can even be anger can change
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us from thinking clearly. And I think it's also related to
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the word Sophos, which means wisdom.
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Oh, is it Sophistre? Yeah, yeah.
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When you are sober, you are wise and conscious.
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You're aware of things and aware of consequences, and not just
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that you are aware that I am doing something, but why you're
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doing those things? I think that's sobriety, yes.
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He really spends most of these next verses on how to minister
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to the poor. I think this is really crucial
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to him. He's trying to raise this people
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up to a higher level. He does not.
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He's trying to make a science society.
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And so how can we do this better?
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We all know that we need to do something along this line, but.
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I love verse 17. Perhaps, you might say, the man
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has brought upon himself his misery.
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Therefore I will stay my hand, and I will not give unto him of
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my food, not impart unto him my substance, that he may not
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suffer, for his punishments are just.
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But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this, the same
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has a great 'cause to repent, because except you repent of
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this which has to be done, ye perish forever, and hath no
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interest in the Kingdom of God, you know, because God says, are
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we not all beggars? You know, God says, Wait a
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minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
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Don't say His cause is just. You have no idea what he has
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endured, what his background was, where he is now.
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You just give, give, give, even if you're poor, say in your
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heart. I would give if I could.
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That's verse 24. I know that's a beautiful
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statement, you know, and I think here he's, he's first thinking
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about responding to people who come up to you and say I need
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help, I and please help me or I'm begging for something.
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I need something. It's a little easier to do that
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when people ask for it. Sometimes it's hard to invite
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yourself into their life if they don't want that and they don't
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want to be embarrassed by it. So we have to be wise about how
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we do this. I'm also sensitive to the fact,
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though, that he says do things in wisdom and order, and just
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sometimes giving perhaps would make a situation worse, and we
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need to make sure we're taking care of the need in a real way.
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So we have to do things in wisdom and in order as well, but
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have a generous heart, be generous, want to give, want to
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take of our excess, to help with their or even with our, want to
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share with them. And I think it also helps to
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saying I'm not just here to share it with you, but I want to
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be your friend. Of course you're going to feed
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them more. Than build relationships and and
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to to be able to not make them feel less because they need
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something. What Benjamin recognizes is that
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we all need a lot and we all have a long way to go.
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As the king, he knows that we're only going to get there
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together, that if there's trouble in anywhere in his
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Kingdom, he can't go down and take care of that.
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He needs all people to be alert to places in which help is
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needed. You know Benjamin gives a if,
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then statement in 21. If God, who has created you, on
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whom you are a dependent for your lives, and for all that you
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have, and are death, grant unto you, whatsoever ye ask, that is
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right in faith, believing that you shall receive.
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Oh, then how ye ought to impart of your substance, that ye have
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one with another? And if ye judge the man who has
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put up his petition to you for your substance that he perished
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not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your
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condemnation for withholding your substance?
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And I think he is as clear as he can by saying, wait a minute,
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you're saying you're not going to feed this person who's hungry
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and help them find housing because you don't ever need
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those two things in your life. The tables can turn pretty fast.
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It really can. This is not a political issue.
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This is an issue of divine importance.
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We have all got to help each other.
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And then he ends this beautiful section with Finally, that's
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verse 29. Huh.
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Finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit
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sin. I think that's a very important
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point. We don't really become righteous
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by following a checklist. There will always be things that
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will come up that we aren't expecting.
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That's why we're here, to become perfected.
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We keep refining ourselves. We keep well.
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We don't refine ourselves. The Savior keeps working with
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us. We keep repenting.
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We keep learning more and growing more.
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Yeah. And so the the gospel is is
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open-ended in a lot of ways, that opportunities will come our
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way, and we need to be prepared. In fact, he even says in verse
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30. But this much I can tell you
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that if you do not watch yourselves and your thoughts and
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your words and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God,
25:58
and continue in the faith of what you have heard concerning
26:01
the coming of our Lord, even into the end of your lives, you
26:04
must perish. And now, O man, remember and
26:07
perish Not so this. That's why I say we have to be
26:12
in tune with the Spirit. This is why it's so important
26:14
that we have it with us all the time.
26:17
If we aren't watching our thoughts, we may be sitting.
26:21
Anyway, he does end this this section having told people, Here
26:26
are the conditions of this covenant that you have asked
26:32
that you can enter into. But they haven't made it yet.
26:35
That's Chapter 5. So he's giving them the
26:38
conditions. This is the problem with making
26:41
the cabinet. You're going to now be held
26:42
responsible. So we turn the page on to
26:49
Chapter 5 and Benjamin looks out.
26:52
And what does he see? He does spoken these words.
26:56
He sent among them to desire to know if they believed the words.
27:01
And they all cried with one voice again.
27:04
We're back to that idea of a possible ritual, a possible
27:08
hymn, probably unity in their thoughts.
27:11
We believe all the words that thou has spoken unto us, and we
27:16
know with a surety and with truth, because of the spirit of
27:18
the Lord omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us.
27:23
Now this is interesting, Jack. He's saying that the all the
27:26
people are feeling this and yet they had to individually.
27:29
He sent out among them to find out.
27:32
So it's an individual feeling of the spirit of that
27:37
sanctification that the cleansing that the spirit can
27:40
bring. I I think you're right.
27:41
And that that first verse he does ask his people and I I
27:46
suppose individually, do you believe?
27:48
Do you believe? And I think they all said yes.
27:52
And having said that, it was kind of like a maybe a baptismal
27:57
interview of some kind that they were now ready and prepared and
28:01
wanted to. Have a mighty change in US and
28:05
in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but
28:08
to do good continually, and we ourselves also.
28:12
This is verse three of chapter 5.
28:14
Through the infinite goodness of God and the manifestations of
28:17
His Spirit, have great views in which it has come, I and I.
28:21
I feel that His desire to have more faith in these people, to
28:26
be good, is something that I have felt many times.
28:30
But then the next morning comes, or the afternoon comes and
28:34
something disastrous happens and and and we like a game of chutes
28:39
and ladders. We're down at the bottom again.
28:40
Yeah. And how do you get back up?
28:43
I I think you begin by having these great views.
28:47
Ah, you've seen it on the mountain.
28:49
You've made the covenant and. You think the word here could
28:53
mean visions? If we have a view of what we're
28:56
going to accomplish and where we're going to be.
28:59
If we have a vision of what we're what's a potential, yeah,
29:02
If we understand the end from the beginning, definitely.
29:05
I think that's a good word. These are our goals.
29:08
But we have a we can envision what this will be.
29:13
And once you have adopted that as your goal and you can see it,
29:19
I can see this happening, now you're prepared to move forward.
29:23
Well, and I love the idea that holiness or sanctification comes
29:27
line upon line and and we take three steps forward and then
29:31
there's a little undulation and we've stepped backward.
29:34
But we're stronger. We have more spiritual sense and
29:37
we can move forward. And and I think in verse five
29:39
they are telling him we are willing to enter into this
29:42
covenant with our God. OK, we know the ramifications to
29:46
we want to do his will to be obedient to the commandments and
29:51
in all things that he shall command us and the remainder of
29:56
our days. I I just think this is so
29:59
beautiful. They're willing to covenant even
30:01
though they know human nature is going to be a challenging.
30:07
The wording of the covenant that will then be administered by
30:11
King Benjamin is indeed a precursor of the sacrament
30:16
prayers, which we find first in 3rd Nephi chapter 18, when Jesus
30:22
has administers the sacrament. There and then again in Moroni
30:27
chapters 4:00 and 5:00, and you can chart these, you can put the
30:31
the words. So how did Benjamin's words
30:35
relate to? Christ's words in 3rd Nephi.
30:40
And we can see that our sacrament prayers are indeed the
30:45
ancient order as was revealed here by by Benjamin and
30:50
developed as Christ then fulfills the the atonement so
30:56
that we now can partake of emblems of the atonement and
31:01
make the covenant much the way these people under Benjamin's
31:05
administration did. Well, here King Benjamin's
31:07
asking them to believe in a way that this covenant is going to
31:11
be made. And I love verse 7.
31:16
And now, because of the covenant which ye have made, ye shall be
31:20
called the children of Christ his sons and his daughters.
31:24
For behold this day he hath spiritually begotten you there.
31:27
For ye say in your hearts that ye are changed through faith on
31:31
his name. Therefore ye are born of him,
31:35
and have become his sons and his daughters.
31:38
This new identity is very real. Correct.
31:40
And I I think that's a part of this naming that they they are
31:46
now going to be known as the children of Christ in verse 8.
31:51
In addition to becoming now called the children of Christ
31:55
collectively, they individually take upon themselves, take upon
32:00
you the name of Christ. That's the wording that we have
32:06
in the sacrament prayer. Yes, that you must have entered
32:10
into the covenant with God, that you should be obedient unto the
32:14
end of your lives. And now we're coming up to
32:22
chapter 5, verse 10/11/12. And I have in my scriptures
32:28
marked This is the first chiasmus that was found in the
32:33
Book of Mormon. Tell us a little bit about it,
32:35
Jack. Give us a first hand account
32:37
here. Well, sure, Lynn.
32:39
I enjoy telling this story and I'll keep it real brief.
32:42
There are places where you can find this on YouTube and also a
32:46
know why that we now have. It gives you a little written
32:49
version of this story, but to me it is still a miracle.
32:54
It's still amazing that I would have been in a place in a time
32:59
with people for all these pieces to come together.
33:02
That I would learn something that I had never had dreamed
33:05
about and never would have. But you are a missionary.
33:08
You are receiving inspiration from God I.
33:10
I was a missionary and we were trying to do our best, and we
33:14
prayed that we would be led and directed, and we hope that we
33:18
would meet people whose lives we could bless and who we might be
33:23
able to teach. And those prayers were answered
33:27
in many ways, and they are from missionaries everywhere.
33:33
So this one, one instance began when my companion and I were
33:39
just walking by a bulletin board there in Regensburg, Germany,
33:45
where we were the only missionaries in that town.
33:50
There was a notice that there would be a series of lectures
33:52
about the New Testament that would be given that summer and I
34:00
thought, well, we could probably learn some things there.
34:03
We walked in and sat down and this lecture, the actually we
34:07
only attended this lecture once because we had conflicts every
34:11
other Friday when it was being taught.
34:14
But once was enough. And you think the Lord helped us
34:19
to get there when this professor was talking about it?
34:22
Well, I think so. What was he talking about?
34:24
He said. I just found a book that I'm
34:28
very excited about, and it's this book by a man named Paul
34:32
Gector who was a Jesuit, a Catholic priest.
34:35
But. What's the book say that helps
34:37
him answer that question? Well, the the book is called The
34:41
Literary Art in the Gospel of Matthew, and it makes some very
34:46
strong claims about how Matthew uses chiasmus in a Hebraic way,
34:53
and that this provides what Gector was calling very strong
35:00
evidence that Matthew was originally written either in
35:04
Hebrew or using Hebraic thought. Because of the way he paralleled
35:09
his the words. And and uses these inverted
35:13
parallelisms. Well, the next step was we went
35:16
to a bookstore and asked there in the Catholic bookstore, if
35:20
they might happen to have a copy of this.
35:22
As you can tell, this is a monograph.
35:25
It's in a series, and so it's not a regularly published book.
35:30
Unusual for a bookstore to have something like this academic.
35:36
And they had one copy of it. And so I as you can see here, I
35:44
studied the Gospel of Matthew in German, looking up all of the
35:49
examples that Gechter had given and reading and finding others
35:54
as well. So I I had done my homework and
35:58
went back to work knocking on doors and talking to people, and
36:02
and I talked to some people about this and asked if they'd
36:05
ever heard of it. And of course, the answer was
36:07
no, because this book was published in 1965, only two
36:13
years before the time I bought the book.
36:16
OK. So it's still very new.
36:18
Yeah, and that's just another little part in the step.
36:22
If I had been a missionary 2 years earlier, this book
36:25
wouldn't have even been in existence.
36:27
Yeah, the Lord's timing is the miracle.
36:30
Lots of things did fall into place.
36:33
OK, so how does this all relate to the Book of Mormon?
36:35
Well then as I was thinking about this and so on, I very
36:43
early one morning have a very clear impression.
36:48
I like to think that it was words, but it was something that
36:52
woke me up and it was before the sun had come up.
36:57
So it's early 4:00 maybe and and the clear words were well, if
37:05
it's evidence of Hebrew style in the Bible, it must be evidence
37:10
of Hebrew style in the Book of Mormon and and I didn't go back
37:15
to sleep. Of course not.
37:17
And I didn't want to wake up my companion, you know, but I I got
37:21
out of bed and I I did go and get my Book of Mormon.
37:26
Or I just sat down at the table where we read the The Book of
37:32
Mormon before we went to bed. OK, so you just had your
37:35
scriptures already out, so you sat down right where you were.
37:37
Right there and turn on a little lamp.
37:41
And are you in the German or English OK?
37:43
Thought Well, I'll start where we left off, and that was in
37:47
Mosiah chapter 4. So as I turned the page on
37:50
Mosiah chapter 5, it didn't take long for my eye to notice 2
37:55
words. Two big long German words that
37:59
are the words for transgression. Uber Traitung.
38:03
Uber Traitung. And those two words were right
38:07
on top of each other. In the German translation in our
38:11
English when they're a little bit offset there, but we're
38:14
talking about chapter 5, verse 11.
38:18
Yes, and that this name will never be blotted out.
38:22
Ausker wrote it except it be through Uber traitum
38:28
transgression. The English says therefore take
38:31
heed that you do not transgress, it makes it a verb.
38:37
But the Germans said, therefore guard yourself against
38:42
transgression. So it's the exact same word.
38:45
Uber Traitum. Uber Traitum.
38:47
So you are caught this. That the name be not blotted out
38:51
of your heart. So you.
38:53
Wrote it so those four. Words you said, OK, here's two.
38:56
Now are there any others? And you kept looking.
38:59
So yes, and then I just started going, well, how above that,
39:02
below that? And of course you can see that
39:06
you are not found on the left hand of God.
39:09
Now the left hand of God only appears here in all of scripture
39:14
that I can find, and it appears twice.
39:17
This has to be intentional. Oh, of course it is.
39:21
You don't do 5 words in a row and then 5 words out without it
39:24
being intentional. It comes to pass that if you
39:26
will not take upon yourself the name of Christ, you must be
39:30
called by some other name. Therefore you find yourself on
39:33
the left hand of God. I would that you should remember
39:36
that this is the name that should never be blotted out,
39:39
except it be through transgression, therefore.
39:42
And that's the turning point. Wow.
39:44
OK, don't transgress name be not blotted out.
39:47
I would that you should remember retain this name, that you're
39:50
not found on the left hand of God, but to hear and know the
39:53
voice by which he shall be called, and also the name by
39:58
which he shall call you. I was pretty excited.
40:01
I love that the name he shall call you, but you found that one
40:07
in the wee hours of the morning, and did you feel the spirit?
40:11
I bet you were ecstatic. It was hard to distinguish the
40:14
excitement from the spirit but I think it was both.
40:18
So it was it was spirit squared and of course I right.
40:24
You know I I was you know looking real care.
40:27
Wow. What is it?
40:28
I woke my companion up and. Oh dear.
40:31
Yeah, what's going on here? But he had been at the lecture
40:35
too. He.
40:35
Had to, And of course he appreciated.
40:37
And you know, that Discovery Day was literally the turning point
40:44
of my mission. Your hump day.
40:46
Hump day. We served for two years and it
40:49
was the morning of the beginning.
40:52
First day of my second year. So it.
40:55
Was. Yeah, so.
40:58
So that's briefly the story of how that was discovered.
41:02
But I also just feel strongly that all of our scripture study
41:06
can receive personal revelation in our own lives.
41:09
And it can bless not only our missionary work, but it can
41:12
bless our own lives and drawing closer to the Lord.
41:17
You know, this is a miraculous experience that has blessed all
41:21
of the church members since that time.
41:23
But who know about it? And who could read the
41:25
scriptures from that perspective?
41:27
But your scripture study, my scripture study, our scripture
41:31
study can also have powerful spiritual ramifications.
41:35
If we pray before we study and if we take it to the Lord and we
41:39
consecrate our time in the scriptures with the Lord.
41:48
Now, before they said there were too many people to count, but
41:51
now they are going to take the time to write their names down
41:55
if they've entered in this covenant.
41:57
That's verse one. And I feel like the church is
41:59
established in Zarahemla. It's a very short chapter 6, but
42:04
they make this oath and in a few verses we then have Benjamin
42:09
stepping down and his son Mosiah stepping up as the next king and
42:15
the oath is continued. Mosiah verse four says Mosiah
42:20
began to reign in his father's stead and he did begin to reign
42:23
in the 30th year of his age. So it says in verse 6, King
42:30
Mosiah did walk in the ways of the Lord and have deserved the
42:32
judgments and the statues to keep the commandments.
42:35
And you know, he's telling the earth he's doing everything
42:38
right, but he reigns under his father.
42:40
Three more years. But next week we'll start on
42:43
King Mosiah's details there and we'll get some flashbacks and
42:49
some other things. But right now, it's been such a
42:52
joy to be able to talk about King Benjamin's sermon with you
42:54
and. This has been a real joy to go
42:57
through King Benjamin's speech in this kind of depth, and I
43:01
know we've talked about a lot of details.
43:04
I hope everyone has picked up enough and can realize that
43:08
there's been a lot written about King Benjamin's speech and a lot
43:12
is available. Don't feel overwhelmed or
43:15
intimidated, but have a a sense of excitement about discovery.
43:22
I was certainly excited when I found chiasmus, But you can be
43:26
just as excited. Anyone can be excited about what
43:29
they learned. That becomes something that they
43:32
take ownership of and then do something with and that the Lord
43:37
will open our minds. I know that.
43:39
And we'll put things into our way that we could not have
43:43
orchestrated. And his hand is in this work and
43:50
how it comes to pass is not for us to really always know the end
43:56
from the beginning I. Walk by faith.
43:59
I know that he has guided my life and has sustained me in
44:04
this effort. It's not just the discovery, of
44:08
course, that that was just a starting point.
44:14
I received an e-mail just two days ago from a scholar in
44:19
England who is now working on caiasmus in the Gospel of
44:24
Matthew, and he had gotten my e-mail address and has asked me
44:30
some questions. And this is not an uncommon
44:32
occurrence. So it's been a way in which I
44:36
can relate to and we can share the gospel and let people
44:42
understand and see things that they wouldn't normally have
44:45
seen. So in a way, this little
44:50
academic pursuit helps us to appreciate a lot of things about
44:55
the truthfulness of the scriptures.
44:58
I think the Lord wants things to be balanced and credible, and
45:04
there need to be good things that can be said because we know
45:07
there will be incorrect and wrong things that are said.
45:11
It's for us to sort those out. I believe that in many ways this
45:17
is just one example that the Lord will not leave us orphans.
45:23
He will be by our side, and He will help us to know the
45:28
truthfulness of His work. This Book of Mormon is in many
45:36
ways a miraculous book. The presence of Caiasmus in the
45:42
book may be one of the greatest or most accessible miracles, and
45:47
maybe the most informative. Because you learn something
45:51
about the text when you read it this way, when you read King
45:55
Benjamin's speech over and over again, when you memorize it,
45:58
It's a tool that will help. It unlocks interconnections and
46:03
you can understand and appreciate and embrace.
46:06
Well, the message of Christ is the greatest miracle of the
46:09
book. Yeah.
46:10
And you can see Christ more by seeing the.
46:13
Chiastic pattern. That's exactly right.
46:15
Yeah. Yeah.
46:16
And Christ is the center. And so often names of Christ
46:26
like the Lord God Omnipotent will be mentioned twice to drive
46:31
home for us the importance of Christ being at the center of
46:35
this. And what's the very center of
46:37
all of King Benjamin's speech? As we said, the Atonement and
46:42
how you must put off the natural man and become a St. through the
46:46
Atonement of Jesus Christ. That is the center point of
46:51
everything that Benjamin is doing here.
46:54
So God does speak in ways that we can hear, ways that we can be
47:04
impressed with. And we can know that this is not
47:09
just an ordinary book, that his word has a distinctive
47:15
fingerprint. And when we know the
47:19
fingerprint, we can recognize the mind and will and word of
47:25
our Savior. I know that to be true, and I am
47:29
so grateful for what it is meant to me and to others, many
47:34
others. And I pray that it will be
47:39
something that will this year, as people are studying the Book
47:43
of Mormon, will make the book even more valuable and precious
47:51
in their lives. We're not through with chiasmus.
47:54
Oh no, we're just in Mosiah. Till we get to some of Alamos.
48:00
But come back next week and we'll have more.
48:03
Thanks for joining us. Thank you.