Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 4–6 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

Transcript

Mosiah 4–6 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

0:26
Hello there. My name is Tyler Griffin and
0:29
this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture Central.
0:33
And today we're going to be covering Mosiah chapters 4-5 and
0:37
six, spending most of our time in chapters 4 and five.
0:42
This particular set of scriptures is incredible for
0:47
teaching all kinds of things about what it means to come into
0:54
this covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, to be able to
0:57
receive and then retain a remission of our sins.
1:02
And in some cases, for many people to regain a remission of
1:09
their sins. Because there are many people
1:11
who have spent some time away from that covenant relationship
1:15
with Christ. And then the question for them
1:18
becomes, is there still a space in that loving covenant embrace
1:25
from the Lord? And the answer is always a
1:27
resounding yes. So as we dive in today, let me
1:31
just point out a couple of things for a lifelong learning
1:36
overlay, a scripture study perspective.
1:40
Time is precious. Time is a gift from God, and we
1:45
don't want to waste your time just covering things at a
1:48
surface level. It was Elder Neil A Maxwell when
1:52
he was the commissioner of education, the commissioner of
1:55
CES years and years ago, when he said when you're teaching the
2:01
gospel in any setting, you need three things.
2:07
You need Verity, you need relevancy and you need a sense
2:16
of urgency. So Verity, if you're not
2:22
familiar with that word, it's you need to teach truth things
2:26
as they really are. Don't teach opinion.
2:28
Don't just teach ethics, teach true doctrine.
2:31
Teach truth as revealed by the prophets and by the the Lord
2:36
through the scriptures and through the Holy Ghost.
2:39
So it has to be true, but it also needs to be relevant.
2:45
It needs to have this connection to that person's life that
2:50
you're teaching or those people that you're teaching.
2:53
And then this third element is a sense of urgency.
2:57
And that's the one I wanted to focus on today.
3:00
As you look through these chapters that we're going to
3:02
study. It was Hugh Nibley years ago who
3:06
said he he noticed something in the Book of Mormon.
3:09
He said something along the lines of have you noticed how
3:13
every speech, every sermon in the Book of Mormon has this
3:18
sense of pleading, the sense of urgency.
3:22
They're not laid back saying, hey, just thought you might want
3:25
to know some of these details. It's there are calls to action
3:29
in these sermons. So they teach these doctrines.
3:33
They teach the principles of the gospel, but they followed up
3:35
with these strong exhortations and invitations to act.
3:40
So as we go through these, these last, the last chapter of his
3:45
speech and then the aftermath of King Benjamin's speech, let's
3:48
pay attention to and look for the action words, the sense of
3:55
urgency that King Benjamin provides for these people.
4:00
On that note, I want to, I want to give a second witness to
4:04
this. And there are many others that
4:06
we could use, but this is one that has this has been a
4:11
blessing in my life for for over 20 years as a religious educator
4:16
in seminary and then in institute, and now as as I teach
4:21
students in my current setting at BYU.
4:25
This was a talk called We Must Raise Our Sights given by
4:29
President Henry B Irene clear back in August of 2001.
4:34
And in here he talks about how the world was changing and how
4:40
the the worlds that the youth were being raised in in 2001 was
4:46
coarser. It was more difficult than it
4:49
had been in the past. And he said many of the youth at
4:54
that time, and I think his a talk applies, it applies more
4:59
today than it did back in 2001, even, which is always a
5:03
beautiful sign of, of a prophet when their teaching becomes
5:08
timeless. He, he talked about how many
5:12
youth would take this, this approach to life of say, I'll
5:18
just go with the flow. I'll, I'll live it up now and
5:21
then I'll repent later and go on a mission and get married in the
5:25
temple and, and do all those churchy things later.
5:28
And he says the flow has become a flood and soon we'll be a
5:34
torrent. It will become a torrent of
5:37
sounds and sights and sensations that invite temptation and
5:41
offend the Spirit of God. Now think for a moment what has
5:46
happened in the world since 2001 in August, when he gave this
5:50
talk up through these these years, these intervening years,
5:56
he said swimming back upstream to purity against the tides of
6:00
the world was never easy. It is getting harder and may
6:05
soon be frighteningly difficult. So there's the problem.
6:10
And you'll also notice this pattern not just with prophets,
6:14
but with scripture. They'll present a problem.
6:17
They'll present a situation that people are facing where where
6:20
you're scratching your head saying, what do I do?
6:22
OK, I recognize that's an issue. And many people and many parents
6:26
are probably nodding right now. Our grandparents saying, Yep,
6:29
we've seen that with our children or grandchildren or our
6:32
siblings or or others in our circle of influence, then you
6:36
always look shortly thereafter and prophets will give you the
6:41
solutions. They'll give you this sense of
6:43
urgency and relevancy by teaching things that are true
6:47
that will actually help that situation.
6:50
So listen to how President Irene did it clear back in 2001.
6:54
He immediately shifts into the pure gospel of Jesus Christ must
7:00
go down into the hearts of young people and I would say of
7:04
adults, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
7:07
It will not be enough for them to have had a spiritual witness
7:11
of the truth and to want good things later.
7:15
Are you noticing the urgency? It will not be enough for them
7:18
to hope for some future cleansing and strengthening.
7:22
Our aim must be for them to become truly converted to the
7:27
restored gospel of Jesus Christ while they are young and I would
7:32
I would add there while they are with us, while we're in these
7:37
moments together, is to have those pure doctrines sink deep
7:42
into their heart, providing the sense of urgency.
7:45
The other way to to describe this, I've heard multiple
7:50
members of the Quorum of the 12 report that when President Boyd
7:54
K Packer was the president of that quorum, that they would
7:58
have these discussions. And at the end of a long
8:00
discussion about a particular topic or idea, he would lean
8:06
forward and say, brethren, therefore what?
8:12
Because we've had this great discussion, that's that's
8:15
wonderful, but what are we now going to do?
8:17
Therefore what? Again, it's finding the
8:21
relevancy within all of the truth that we might have been
8:24
discussing, but it then creates that sense of urgency.
8:27
OK, so now what? So my invitation to all of us as
8:32
we go through this together and then as you embark on your own
8:37
study and you take this deeper and broader on your own
8:42
individually and collectively, the invitation would be to look
8:46
for the answer to that question. Therefore what or or another way
8:50
to word that would be. So now what, what am I going to
8:54
going to do? What is this teaching going to
8:58
cause me to feel and to want to do now, not just theoretically
9:05
down the road in the future at some point down there?
9:11
So with that foundation, let's dive in.
9:15
Chapter 4, verse one. Keep in mind, he just got
9:19
through giving them the words that had been delivered to him
9:23
by the Angel in Mosiah chapter 3, one of the greatest chapters
9:27
of Scripture ever given. So now watch as King Benjamin
9:32
builds this sense of urgency among his people in verse one.
9:37
He looked down, cast his eyes round about on the multitude,
9:40
and behold, they had fallen to the earth for the fear of the
9:44
Lord had come upon them. They felt something that caused
9:47
them to to fall to the ground in reverence in in respect, in
9:53
worship for God. And then it says they had viewed
9:56
themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust
9:59
of the earth. And they all cried with one
10:02
voice saying, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning blood of
10:07
Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our
10:11
hearts may be purified. Brothers and sisters, this is a
10:15
this is a beautiful reminder to us that we don't need to just
10:19
talk about the doctrines of the gospel or the truths of eternity
10:23
or the truths of the Scriptures in abstract, distant kinds of
10:28
ways or or terms, if we take them personally.
10:33
So when we read a verse like this, that this this group of
10:35
people fell down and they cried, oh, have mercy and apply the
10:41
atoning blood of Christ. We don't need to keep that at
10:44
arms length. We can let those words not just
10:48
bounce off of the retina in our eyes and then become little
10:52
thoughts in our brain, but we can allow that to sink deeper
10:56
into our heart and say, now what?
10:58
Hey, I can do that too. And I don't need to wait until
11:02
tonight when I'm saying my prayers, or this Sunday when I'm
11:04
taking the sacrament, or fill in the blank with some future event
11:09
or date. We can do that right now in our
11:13
hearts and our minds. There's this beautiful concept
11:16
of the gospel that what it, whatever it is that you're
11:19
consistently and insistently seeking after and asking for and
11:25
desiring, that's what you're going to get.
11:28
That's the direction you keep turning your focus.
11:30
That's where you're headed. So you don't wait for some
11:34
future moment to do this. You, you start right now by
11:38
repeating that concept in your own heart, in your own mind,
11:42
however that that fits for you to call down the power of God's
11:48
mercy in your life today as these people have done here.
11:52
And then it says in verse three, it came to pass that after they
11:55
had spoken these words, focus those words that were focused so
11:59
much on Jesus Christ and His infinite atonement and his
12:01
mercy. It says the Spirit of the Lord
12:04
came upon them and they were filled with joy, having received
12:10
a remission of their sins and having peace of conscience
12:13
because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ.
12:17
That is a beautiful concept. If if you like marking your
12:20
Scriptures, you could circle that word.
12:23
Remission. They received a remission of
12:27
their sins. Why?
12:29
Because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ.
12:35
It's this entering into that covenant relationship and that
12:39
feeling of a covenantal belonging that we talked about
12:42
last week with Christ. Whether it's the first time
12:46
you're doing that or whether it's somebody coming back into
12:51
the faith, striving to re establish those connections with
12:56
Christ, the same principles apply.
12:58
It's not a different path. It's not a different truth.
13:03
You come to him with faith and you trust in His infinite
13:08
atonement. And then in verse 4, King
13:11
Benjamin addresses the people and finishes the rest of his
13:15
speech. Now he's giving his words.
13:17
So chapter two was a compilation of his words.
13:21
Chapter three was the angel's words.
13:23
And it had this effect on the people.
13:25
And by the way, I don't know very many sacred meetings or
13:28
state conferences or any other church meeting where when the
13:31
speaker finishes, the whole congregation has fallen to the
13:34
ground. Chapter 3 is is powerful that
13:39
that caused this reaction for the people.
13:41
Now they're they're back ready to hear some more.
13:45
And so King Benjamin is going to discuss this beautiful concept
13:50
of you've received a remission of your sins.
13:53
Now the entire rest of the speech is going to be an
13:57
invitation of things that they can play in their life, truths
14:01
that are relevant to their life, but that can be applied
14:05
immediately every day moving forward in order to retain a
14:12
remission of their sins. So they've received the
14:15
remission. Now he's showing them how to
14:18
retain, if the the phrase retain A remission is found over there
14:21
in verse 12. So we'll get to that.
14:24
But everything between here and verse 12 is, is his pleading,
14:30
his urgent exhortations to do things in order to persevere on
14:37
that covenant path. Because conversion and
14:41
consecration and discipleship, they are not an event.
14:46
They are a process. Now that process is marked by
14:50
powerful events along the way. But those events aren't the the
14:55
staying power. They're they're signposts along
14:59
the way to say, yes, keep going. You're on the right path and the
15:04
Lord has not forsaken you. You, you've got this.
15:08
Keep moving, pressing forward with a steadfast faith in
15:11
Christ, to use Nephi's phrase. Now look at verse five and six.
15:18
This is remarkable. If you look at the way he sets
15:24
this up, verse five, he gives you the sense of the significant
15:31
problem. We, we talked about this before
15:34
with President Irene's quote that they'll, they'll establish
15:38
the struggle, the need, the problem, the setting that that
15:42
is out of balance or out of order or that lacks hope.
15:47
And he does that in verse 5. For behold, if the knowledge of
15:51
the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of
15:56
your nothingness and your worthless and fallen state.
15:59
Wow, those are, those are charged words and they're not
16:05
positive words. This idea of nothingness and the
16:15
the word worthless, those are words that you usually try to
16:21
avoid when talking to people. You don't usually go up and tell
16:25
somebody they're worthless or they're nothing and that they're
16:29
in a fallen state. But prophets use these these
16:37
extreme conditions and words to awaken us to our standing before
16:44
God. You'll notice that the people's
16:48
nothingness, worthlessness and fallen state hasn't changed from
16:53
just because he gave the speech. It's always been what it is.
16:58
The thing that changed, if you look back at verse five's
17:02
opening, is if the knowledge of the goodness of of God at this
17:06
time has awakened you to a sense of those three things.
17:13
In other words, you've always been there.
17:16
You've always been in this nothingness, worthless and
17:19
fallen state. You just might not have been
17:22
aware of it. So some people go to church or
17:26
they read their scriptures or they listen to General
17:30
Conference and they walk away saying, well, that was
17:33
depressing because I just walk away feeling guilty or I walk
17:37
away knowing how bad I've been or, or what I'm not doing right.
17:43
There's something powerful about being awakened to a sense of
17:50
Verity, a sense of reality of, of my standing before God.
17:55
But prophets never leave you there.
17:58
And unfortunately, you and I leave each other and we leave
18:03
ourselves there. Often when we engage in negative
18:07
self talk or in negative conversations with people, we
18:10
only focus on that nothingness, that worthless, that that fallen
18:15
state and where we fell short and where we're never going to
18:19
be good enough. That's where the devil would
18:22
have us take that kind of of negative self talk or negative
18:26
interaction with others. Prophets never do that.
18:30
They always set the stage with the need, which creates this
18:35
sense of, oh, I'm sick, I need a physician, I need help.
18:40
And then look at the counter, the the antidote, the the
18:45
medicine, the surgery, whatever you want to call it.
18:48
Verse six. I say now he gives you this
18:52
contrast if you have come to a knowledge.
18:56
So in the first we came to a knowledge we were awakened to,
18:59
to our our vadnais. But now we've come to a
19:02
knowledge of the look at the contrast, the goodness the of
19:10
God and of his matchless power. Matchless.
19:14
Nobody can match his power and his ability and his wisdom and
19:22
his patience. I don't know about you, but
19:31
there have been so many times where I've thought to myself,
19:35
how come? How can God be so kind for so
19:40
long and so patient with me here?
19:44
Here's the most powerful, the most wise, the best, the the
19:50
most knowledgeable being in all the universe has everything in
19:54
his hands. And yet he somehow infinitely
19:59
interested in little old me and you, even when we've let him
20:05
down over and over and over again when we've fallen short.
20:10
How is this even possible? And then he extends this out by
20:14
saying, after using the word patience, he said, and his
20:17
long-suffering toward the children of men.
20:27
Can you see the truth here, the Verity?
20:30
Here's our struggle. We're weak, we're fallen, but
20:35
then here comes this pleading from the prophet to awaken our
20:41
understanding and to come to a knowledge of how God does these
20:46
things. Well, you don't get that by just
20:49
sitting in a chair and asking curiosity questions of heaven.
20:53
We learn these things by our experience on the covenant path,
21:00
our experience in life, and sometimes learning from our
21:04
negative experiences to get back onto the covenant path.
21:07
We see of God's goodness, His power, His wisdom, His patience,
21:10
and his long-suffering. So there's the solution which
21:13
now leads to therefore, what as President Packer might have
21:19
asked. So, so we know this, this
21:21
Verity, this truth, we see the relevance of the truth now.
21:27
What about that sense of urgency?
21:29
Therefore, what, what can I do and not, what can I do next
21:33
week? What can I do next year?
21:35
What can I do today, not just today, but right now?
21:39
How can my scripture study actually fuel my discipleship
21:44
and deepen the roots of my consecration and connection with
21:49
God and, and with the Saviour Jesus Christ?
21:51
He gives you that answer in the second-half of verse 6.
21:55
So we have the problem. We have the the solution, which
21:59
is Christ and and God and these perfected attributes that you
22:03
and I have access to. Now, how do we and we've
22:08
received a remission of our sins earlier here.
22:11
So how do we retain that and move forward and be the kinds of
22:15
of disciples the people aren't always wondering.
22:19
I wonder how long he's going to last.
22:21
I wonder how long he's going to be faithful in his in his
22:25
covenants and in his relationships, not just with
22:29
people, but with God. Here's the solution that
22:32
therefore what in the second-half of verse 6, and also
22:37
the atonement which had been prepared from the foundation of
22:39
the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that
22:45
should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in
22:50
keeping His commandments and continue in the faith even unto
22:54
the end of his life. I mean the life of the mortal
22:57
body. I say that this is the man or
23:01
woman, I would add, who receiveth salvation through the
23:05
atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world
23:08
for all mankind. So He gave you 3, 3 verbs, 3
23:16
things that we can do, 3 answers to the question.
23:20
So now what? Or therefore what?
23:23
Trust in the Lord, be diligent in keeping His commandments, and
23:27
continue in the faith. Which means along the way, when
23:31
we struggle, we're going to have to rely on some of God's
23:35
patience and long-suffering and His goodness to keep forgiving
23:39
us and keep picking us up and dusting us off and walking with
23:43
us some more on that path. But that is the means verse 8
23:49
says, whereby salvation cometh, and there is none other
23:53
salvation save this which has been spoken of.
23:57
You and I live in a world that is saturated with voices telling
24:01
us how to live our life and how to be happy.
24:05
And some of those voices are are more informed and wise than
24:08
others, and some get closer to the truth than others.
24:13
But I love the fact that God didn't set us down here and
24:16
leave us on our own to try to decipher.
24:18
OK, so who do I trust? In which direction do I go?
24:21
And who should I follow? If we put Jesus Christ and
24:26
Heavenly Father and his plan for our happiness at the core, at
24:29
the center of our life. If if that's our focus and then
24:35
we go out from there to scriptures and and we get our
24:38
access to those truths and those relevant doctrines from
24:44
scriptures and the words of living prophets that will help
24:49
point us towards the Saviour better than anything this world
24:53
has to offer. As good as some of the advice
24:56
and the counsel might be from various worlds experts on
25:00
different topics, the the core here is it's this call to come
25:06
unto Christ and the people who are most likely to be able to
25:10
point me accurately to Christ are these urgent pleas from
25:15
prophets both ancient and modern.
25:18
And I am so grateful to live on the earth at this time in the
25:22
dispensation of the fullness of times when we have such ready
25:25
access and ability to study deeply the words of of prophets
25:30
in the Scriptures better than ever in the history of the world
25:34
with all the tools and the free resources that that God has
25:37
provided. And then to also add to that
25:40
that supernal gift of having living prophets, sears and
25:44
revelators to help us make sense of and unlock deeper meaning of
25:51
these principles that we learn in Scriptures.
25:54
Which now brings us to there is none other salvation save this
25:59
which has been spoken of. Neither are there any conditions
26:02
whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told
26:06
you all roads don't lead to God. There's only one.
26:12
There's one way, and that way has a name, and His name is
26:17
Jesus Christ. So once again, watch as King
26:22
Benjamin keep shifting between teaching true principles and
26:27
then coming over to the exhortation and the urgent
26:32
pleading with the people forms that that come out in his
26:38
speech. Look at verse 9. believe in God.
26:42
That's an imperative. It's not just a suggestion.
26:45
He he's saying you've got to believe in God.
26:49
Believe that he is and that he created all things both in
26:52
heaven and in earth. Believe that He has all wisdom
26:56
and all power, both in heaven and in earth, and believe that
27:00
man does not comprehend all the things which the Lord can
27:03
comprehend. Four times in one verse.
27:07
Right there you got this invitation, this call to action.
27:12
Believe. Often the way we talk about that
27:16
word is as if we're an object waiting to be acted upon.
27:21
We're waiting for something to come and hit us so that belief
27:25
can be formed within us. We're convinced then because of
27:30
something we've seen or heard or experienced in one form or
27:33
another. Now, now I believe.
27:37
But the way King Benjamin's talking about this, as he's
27:40
saying, don't wait for something to come to you in order to make
27:45
the the conclusion that you have to believe he's asking us.
27:51
In fact, I would say he's pleading with us to make the
27:56
choice to use our agency to choose to believe.
28:01
It's an action. It's not a reaction, only it.
28:05
Belief can be a reaction and we see it all the time in different
28:09
settings in the world. And we're not taking that away.
28:12
We're pointing out that here. It's an urgent call to action to
28:16
make that choice, the choice to believe.
28:19
And then look at the verbs in verse 10.
28:22
Once again, relevant and urgent truths that are being taught by
28:28
King Benjamin to his people so that they will change their life
28:33
that day to move forward on the covenant path.
28:37
He wasn't saying tuck this away. It'll come in handy down the
28:40
road. It's do it now.
28:43
Don't wait for tonight. Do it right now.
28:45
And again, believe that you must repent of your sins.
28:51
So believe, repent, forsake them, humble yourselves before
28:57
God and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you.
29:01
And now if you believe these things, see that ye do them, do
29:09
them. It's like it's all of these
29:11
calls to action, the these urgent calls to action, if you
29:16
will, because now is the time, the best time to take a step
29:21
forward on the covenant path. Now is the time to pause and
29:25
turn heavenward in your in your heart and in your mind and say,
29:28
Heavenly Father, what are the, the most important things that I
29:33
need to repent of? What are the, the, the struggles
29:38
I'm facing it. It was Sister Michelle Craig who
29:41
gave that great talk in general conference years ago where she
29:45
asked two really important questions that I think apply
29:48
beautifully here. What am I doing that I should
29:52
stop doing and what am I not doing that I should start doing?
29:58
What a beautiful way to to start this process of, of repenting
30:03
and forsaking those those sins and weaknesses and to humble
30:07
ourselves before God and pray with real intent and move
30:11
forward and act on the answers that come from the Holy Ghost.
30:17
And as you read the scriptures with that prayer in your heart,
30:22
sometimes it's verses or chapters later where the answer
30:26
finally comes to that pleading. But again, we don't just ask at
30:30
once. It becomes an insistent desire.
30:33
It becomes a consistent request from heaven.
30:37
How can I become more like the Savior in my life?
30:42
How can I refine? How can I allow the Savior to
30:46
refine my heart and my mind and my actions to become more and
30:52
more aligned with what He would do in these settings that I find
30:55
myself today? It's such a beautiful joy.
30:58
Repentance is a joyful process. It's not a punitive, beat
31:04
ourselves up kind of a process with negative self talk.
31:07
It's, it's this forward-looking with hope in the redemption and
31:13
the cleanliness and the, the power and the love and the
31:18
patience and long-suffering that Jesus Christ offers to us as we
31:22
keep working with him through these processes urgently, not
31:27
panicked, but urgently. So in verse 11 and 12, you see
31:32
King Benjamin now make this this transition to to helping frame
31:37
everything that he's been teaching, everything that people
31:40
have been experiencing into this feeling of this lifelong deeply
31:46
rooted discipleship, lifelong covenantal connections with
31:52
Christ. He says again, I say unto you,
31:56
as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of
31:59
the glory of God, or if you have known of his goodness and have
32:02
tasted of his love. So you've had these experiences,
32:06
these these events, if you will, where you've come to recognize
32:10
and and feel personally of these beautiful attributes that God
32:15
offers us. Or if you have known of His
32:18
goodness and have tasted of His love and have received a
32:22
remission of your sins which causes such exceedingly great
32:25
joy in your souls. Even so I would that you should
32:28
remember and always retain in remembrance the greatness of God
32:32
in your own nothingness and His goodness and long-suffering
32:36
towards you unworthy creatures. He's not trying to depress His
32:40
people. He's trying to help His people
32:44
to remember that just because they had this incredible
32:47
experience this day doesn't mean that now all of a sudden they
32:51
don't need the Lord anymore because they're no longer fallen
32:54
creatures. He's reminding them that that
32:59
that fallen condition continues. They need a continuation of that
33:07
redemptive power and grace that comes only from Jesus Christ
33:12
through his infinite atonement. It says always retain in
33:16
remembrance the greatness of God and your own nothingness and His
33:20
goodness and long-suffering towards you unworthy creatures.
33:24
Again, He keeps playing off God's goodness and our struggle
33:28
and our need for God. Humble yourselves even in the
33:31
depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily.
33:35
This is not a once a week or a once a year event.
33:39
This is a daily pattern. It's a process and we keep doing
33:45
it constantly. Notice he says, and standing
33:48
steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was
33:51
spoken by the mouth of the Angel, and now he makes a
33:54
promise. And behold, I say unto you that
33:56
if you will do this, notice the if this is conditional, God's
34:01
not forcing you to do this. I'm not as the King Benjamin,
34:05
he's saying, I'm not passing a law forcing you to do this.
34:09
This is your choice. This is your use of agency.
34:12
Where are you going to focus your time and energy?
34:15
If you do this, ye shall rejoice and be filled with the love of
34:19
God and always retain. There's that word retain.
34:24
You received a remission. Now you can always retain a
34:28
remission of your sins, and you shall grow in the knowledge of
34:31
the glory of Him that created you or in the knowledge of that
34:34
which is just and true. That is the beauty of this
34:38
process of receiving and retaining a remission of your
34:41
sins is not just that you're progressing on the path, because
34:46
that path once again has a name. It's Jesus Christ.
34:50
You are coming to know Him better, and the more you know
34:54
Him, the more you love Him. The more you love Him, the more
34:58
you recognize His hand in your life and His blessings and His
35:02
mercy and His grace in your life.
35:05
And the more you experience that, the more capable you are
35:08
of reflecting that to the people around you.
35:12
Your ability not just to love God increases, but your ability
35:15
to love your neighbor. As yourself increases, your
35:18
ability to love yourself increases in appropriate ways.
35:21
As you move forward, becoming more and more refined, your
35:25
words become more aligned with Jesus's words.
35:30
Your thoughts, your feelings, your desires, ultimately your
35:34
actions and your very nature becomes more amalgamated with
35:40
His as you take on more and more of His godly attributes.
35:45
We become less of what was described up there in verse 5
35:49
and more of what was described in verse six.
35:53
We become more like God and more like His, His Son.
35:58
Then He takes us from verse 1314 all the way down to verse 26,
36:05
giving an example of how we should treat other people along
36:12
our journey on the covenant path.
36:14
The beggar, the poor, the needy, those who are afflicted in any
36:18
manner, who, who, who maybe can't progress because of
36:23
physical or financial or social limitations, whatever they may
36:27
be. And he gives this beautiful part
36:31
of his discourse devoted to how to treat people who are
36:37
struggling in any of these ways. His his powerful reminder in the
36:43
middle of that section, verse 19 For behold, are we not all
36:48
beggars? Do we not all depend upon the
36:50
same being, even God, for all the substance which we have for
36:53
both food and raiment, for gold and for silver and for all the
36:56
riches which we have of every kind.
36:59
That's a powerful reminder. So as you study on your own,
37:02
verse 14 through through 26, look carefully at what truths is
37:10
he teaching? Where's the relevance?
37:13
Where's the connection to us? And then where's the sense of
37:15
urgency that you feel from the Lord of what are some things you
37:20
and I could do today, this week, right away in order to become
37:28
more Christ like in looking for those who are struggling in any
37:33
of these ways? And how can we reach out an arm
37:37
of support and sustaining fellowship rather than arm of
37:44
judgement, stiff arming them and pushing them aside.
37:48
Now he comes to a caution in this process because there are
37:52
some who read or hear these these ideas.
37:59
And then we try to do more than we're capable of doing or we try
38:05
to, to, to have that dominate too much of our life.
38:10
Verse 27 says, and see that all these things are done in wisdom
38:15
and order. So there's, it's, it's like this
38:18
bumper bowling thing where don't swing the pendulum too far this
38:22
way and don't swing it too far that way.
38:24
To stay in the middle of the lane.
38:27
Do things in wisdom and in order.
38:30
It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has
38:33
strength. And again, it is expedient that
38:35
he should be diligent that thereby he might win the prize.
38:38
Therefore all things must be done in order.
38:40
Now how to do that and how to apply that in your life, in your
38:43
setting, in your situation, I don't have a clue what, what,
38:47
what I would say to anybody who said, OK, So what should I do?
38:51
The best answer that anybody could give, in my opinion, is
38:54
simply pointing heavenward saying that's a really good
38:59
question and I know somebody that you should ask that
39:02
question of. Now, there are principles we
39:04
could talk about as King Benjamin has been doing here and
39:06
as we've been pointing out. But at the end of the day, the
39:09
ultimate urgent needs and the application of these principles,
39:15
The only person who who I would feel comfortable saying
39:19
absolutely turn to this person for for council on exactly how
39:24
to apply that principle in your life would be that finger
39:27
pointing heaven word to say go to the Lord and ask him, what
39:33
would thou have me do? What does wisdom in an order
39:36
look like in my life at this phase of my life?
39:41
You don't have to. You don't have to serve
39:44
everybody in your ward all of the meals when they're
39:47
struggling, but it would be important for you to figure out
39:51
which person or small handful of people God would want you to
39:57
serve a meal to or to help in any other way at this at this
40:03
point in their life. And then he gives some some
40:08
final exhortations and urgent invitations exhortations to the
40:15
people in verse 30. This much I can tell you that if
40:20
you do not watch yourselves. And your thoughts and your words
40:24
and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and
40:26
continue in the faith of what you have heard concerning the
40:30
coming of our Lord, even unto the ends of your lives.
40:34
He must perish. And now, oh man, remember and
40:38
perish. Not so there was the speech.
40:42
He finishes. Now he looks at the group and
40:48
they they've believed the words. They're crying with one voice.
40:54
And what they're crying is, yeah, we believe all the words
40:56
which that has spoken unto us. And also we know of their surety
40:59
and truth. Why not?
41:02
Because you convinced us, King Benjamin.
41:05
We know of their surety and of their truth.
41:08
They're Verity. They're surety and their
41:12
relevancy and urgency. Why?
41:16
Because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has
41:20
wrought a mighty change in US or in our hearts, that we have no
41:25
more disposition to do evil but to do good continually.
41:28
That is a powerful measuring rod for doctrine and 1st checking
41:36
sources and resources. People who are claiming truth.
41:41
If you engage with people, either their words or or their
41:47
their talks, whatever it may be, their claims for truth.
41:51
If you walk away feeling this deeper desire to repent, to draw
41:57
closer to Jesus Christ, to be kinder to people more, more
42:01
Christ like with your interactions with people.
42:03
And if it has taken your disposition, your natural
42:07
desires to do evil and it's minimize those and maximize that
42:12
spirit of of I I've got a mighty change in my heart.
42:17
Then you can know by the power of the Holy Ghost.
42:19
That's a that's a good source. That's a good person.
42:23
Keep moving forward, following what the spirit has borne
42:29
witness to your soul of whatever truths have been taught there.
42:33
And so then he goes on the the people go on to say, and we
42:37
ourselves all through through the infinite goodness of God and
42:40
the manifestations of his spirit have great views of that which
42:43
is to come. It's increased our our view of
42:47
what is to come, not just future events, but being able to have
42:52
that hope filled view of us in this deeper and longer lasting
42:59
relationship with Jesus Christ. There's incredible hope.
43:03
They're always forward, future looking.
43:07
And then verse 5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant
43:12
with our God to do His will and to be obedient to his
43:17
commandments in all things, that He shall shall command us all
43:24
the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves
43:26
a never ending torment, as has been spoken by the Angel, that
43:31
we may not drink of the cup of the wrath of God.
43:34
So you get these extreme words all and never ending this.
43:40
These people have truly received this remission of their sins and
43:44
they desperately, urgently want to retain that remission.
43:49
So they're willing to enter into a covenant because they want
43:53
this to become a process, not just an event on that particular
43:58
day in their in their life. And now this next doctrinal
44:05
teaching from King Benjamin, I think is one of the sweetest
44:10
doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon.
44:13
And we don't often give it as much airtime as many of the
44:16
other beautiful, equally powerful doctrines in the book.
44:20
But but let's let's pause for a moment and, and dive in here.
44:24
President Russell and Nielsen gave an incredible talk to young
44:28
men and young women in those young adult years called Choices
44:33
for Eternity. And in there he talked about
44:36
their identities and how they see themselves.
44:40
And then he said of all the other labels you could put on
44:42
yourself, don't forget these three primary identities.
44:46
You are a child of God, you are a child of the covenant and you
44:50
are a disciple of Christ, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
44:54
We put a lot of emphasis in our teaching and in in our study,
44:58
often on the 1st and the third one, being children of God and
45:02
being disciples of Christ. We often don't spend as much
45:06
airtime with children of the covenant.
45:10
And some might even wonder, what does that mean?
45:12
How can I be born into a covenant?
45:14
How can I become a child of a covenant?
45:17
That means the covenant becomes my parent.
45:19
How does this work? And it can be confusing.
45:22
I love watching how King Benjamin uses all of those
45:26
words, but he puts them in a context that is so powerful for
45:31
us to understand our covenant belonging with Jesus Christ.
45:37
Look at verse 7. And now because so this is cause
45:42
and effect, because of the covenant which you have made, ye
45:48
shall be called the children of Christ, his sons and His
45:55
daughters. For behold this day He hath
45:58
spiritually begotten you. For you see that your hearts are
46:02
changed through faith on His name.
46:03
Therefore, you are born of Him and have become His sons and His
46:11
daughters. This is significant because you
46:16
have Heavenly Father who engendered life, new life in
46:26
your spirit. You have Dad who engendered new
46:31
life in your physical body. And now according to King
46:37
Benjamin, because of the covenant which we've made, we
46:40
become the children of Christ, his sons and his daughters.
46:46
So we add to the list of our fathers Jesus Christ.
46:51
So to become a child of the covenant, one way, it's not the
46:55
only way, but one way to look at that would be wow, I'm actually
47:02
my, my relationship with Jesus Christ is changing.
47:06
He's no longer seen as just my elder brother in the spirit,
47:10
which is true. He is our elder brother, but he
47:13
now takes on a different role, a different responsibility with me
47:18
as the father of my spiritual rebirth, of my covenantal
47:23
rebirth. As I enter into that covenant
47:26
relationship with him, he becomes my father.
47:29
Now someone say I'm a little I I get what King Benjamin saying
47:33
here, but I still prefer to just refer to Jesus as my elder
47:37
brother. That's fine, that is a true
47:40
doctrine. But notice your earthly father
47:45
will call him dad. Your earthly father was also
47:50
your brother up in heaven, your spirit brother, born of heavenly
47:54
parents like you were. But you don't look at your
47:58
earthly father and refer to him as your brother because that's
48:04
not the role whereby he has been so integral in helping you
48:09
progress in the plan of salvation of our God.
48:13
You look at him in his role as your father or your dad.
48:20
He, your your spirit brother now became your the the Father of
48:24
your flesh. Your dad, just like Jesus
48:28
Christ, started as your spirit brother as well, the first born
48:33
of the of heavenly parents in that celestial sphere.
48:38
But now because of the covenant which you've made with him,
48:42
which he which he offered to you, he now takes on a new role.
48:48
You become his sons and his daughters, children of the
48:53
covenant with Christ. Now, if you stop and think about
48:58
this for a moment, what is the power of having Jesus Christ
49:03
become your father, not just your brother?
49:07
You inherit some things from a father that you don't from a
49:09
brother Like you take upon you your father's name.
49:15
You did that when you were born. You took upon you your dad's
49:19
surname. You.
49:22
You take upon you attributes, DNA characteristics, the ability
49:28
to grow up to become like your parents.
49:31
Same thing at your spiritual rebirth into this covenant
49:35
relationship. You now have the the DNA of
49:41
Christ within your your soul with the capacity to grow up to
49:46
become more like him. A father by divine design
49:51
presides, provides and protects his family.
49:56
That's exactly what Jesus Christ is now offering to do for us.
50:01
When we enter into that covenantal relationship with
50:04
Him, He will preside. We look to Him, we don't
50:08
negotiate with Him. We trust Him, we have faith in
50:12
Him. He provides, He protects.
50:17
He does all of these things for us and now we have the capacity
50:22
to move forward in the safety of His arms, in the safety of being
50:29
in His family, A child of his covenant now, some would say,
50:33
but that feels like we're now displacing Heavenly Father's
50:37
role as our Father. Jesus didn't come to displace
50:42
God the Father. He came to deepen your
50:46
relationship with Heavenly Father.
50:49
Just like by adopting, by being adopted into the family of
50:54
Christ, becoming a child of Christ through the covenant
50:57
doesn't mean you now have to give up your family rules.
51:01
Now, some people for a short season of life do indeed have to
51:07
make that decision. If a family says we're going to
51:10
disown you if you get baptized and join that church.
51:15
But if we enter into that covenant with Christ and become
51:19
children of that covenant, that is the only way or means whereby
51:27
down the road He can help us make that relationship with Dad
51:32
and our relationship with our heavenly Father become eternal.
51:40
It's only through Christ as the Father of that, that rebirth,
51:46
the Father of that covenant that we can hope to have lasting and
51:52
meaningful and eternal celestial relationships ongoing with both
51:59
dad and heavenly Father. And of course, we would add mom
52:05
and our heavenly parents in this mix.
52:09
For those of you who would love a a second witness of this child
52:16
of Christ or children of this covenant perspective, you could
52:21
cross reference verse seven with ether chapter 3, verse 14, where
52:27
Jesus Christ speaking to the brother of Jared teaches this
52:31
exact same doctrine about his desire to become our our father
52:38
through the the rebirth that he offers in the covenant
52:43
relationship with him. It's a powerful, beautiful
52:46
doctrine in the Book of Mormon that is also taught in the
52:49
Bible. For unto us a child is born,
52:53
unto us a son is given. We all know who that is, and the
52:58
government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be
53:02
called wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting
53:08
Father, the Prince of Peace. It's in his role as your Father
53:13
that he saves you. It's not in his role as your
53:16
brother that you're going to find that salvation and that
53:20
that deep eternal connection with God.
53:23
We have to accept Him as the father of our rebirth to to get
53:29
on and progress on the path to receive a remission and retain a
53:33
remission of our sins. Now the rest of this chapter you
53:37
can once again read as he makes some final invitations to the
53:43
people these urgent pleadings. But I wanted to finish with just
53:48
one verse in particular that asks 3 questions.
53:51
Verse 13. For how knoweth a man, the
53:54
master, whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him
53:59
and is far from the thoughts and the intents of his heart?
54:03
People generally walk the direction they're facing you.
54:06
You generally move wherever you're looking.
54:10
So the urgent plea from this incredible set of chapters for
54:17
me is to focus more and more frequently, more deeply and more
54:24
frequently on Jesus Christ. Think about Him more, rely on
54:29
Him more, trust Him more, repent more.
54:33
Plead for His guidance and His direction in our life more as we
54:37
move forward His promises. Sure.
54:41
Just like any good parent, He's willing to let all of those
54:46
godly attributes come to bear as we are wrapped in the arms of
54:51
His safety, His covenantal arms of safety.
54:57
He loves you, He will forgive you, He will walk with you, He
55:01
will teach you, He will shape you and mold you and use you as
55:05
an instrument in His hands to do untold good in this world, in
55:11
the sphere in which you live. If we seek to move forward
55:16
today, not next week, on that covenant path.