Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 11–17 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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Mosiah 11–17 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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Hello there, my name is Tyler Griffin and this is Scripture
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Study Insights by Scripture Central Today, Mosiah chapters
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11 through 17, and in these chapters we we basically cover
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the ministry of one of my favorite scripture characters,
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the prophet of Benedi. We know so little about him, and
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yet he left an amazing legacy of some of the most profound
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doctrines and teachings regarding Jesus Christ.
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And he becomes this, this beautiful Christ like figure who
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is willing to lay down his life for the cause of Christ.
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It's a it's a beautiful story. Now to begin, there are a couple
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of things as far as lifelong learning overlay elements that I
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want to introduce as we prepare to dive in.
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The first one is this notion of what is truth and who decides
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what truth is. I love how how frequently
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President Russell M Nielsen has said things along the lines of
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truth is truth and public opinion is not the arbiter of
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truth. You don't look for the latest
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poll to find out what truth is because as it is defined in
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scriptures, truth is a knowledge of things as they really are or
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as they were, as they are and as they are to come.
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It's not something that is decided by public opinion.
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In fact, Elder Dieter F Uchdorf gave an incredible talk that I
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highly recommend at BYU. It is called What is Truth?
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And in there he he has so many beautiful examples of what truth
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is, but I just want to read this one little paragraph that is
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extremely relevant for our scripture chapters today that
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we're going to cover. He talks about how human beings,
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we have this human nature regarding how we perceive truth
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and will cling to things that aren't true often and it will
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shape our entire society. And then he goes on to say part
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of the reason for poor judgement comes from the tendency of
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mankind to blur the line between belief and truth.
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We too often confuse belief with truth, thinking that because
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something makes sense or is convenient, it, it must be true.
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Conversely, we sometimes don't believe truth or reject it
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because it would require us to change or admit that we were
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wrong. Often truth is rejected because
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it doesn't appear to be consistent with previous
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experiences. We are going to see that over
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and over again in these chapters today.
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The difference between belief and truth, you're going to have
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Abinadai teaching the people and you're going to have King Noah
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teaching them and his priests. And Abinadai's message is going
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to be the words of God. He's going to be teaching.
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Words of scripture, he's going to be teaching eternal truth.
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Noah, on the other hand, and his priests are going to be
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entrenching in their beliefs that they have all gotten
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together and agreed together that this is true.
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And we believe it. And because we feel so
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passionately about it, the more we talk about it, the more true
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it becomes to them. And they're going to defend
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their beliefs, even to the point of killing Abinadai.
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And eventually in next week's lessons or chapters, they're
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going to King. Noah is going to send his
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soldiers to kill an entire group of his own people with Alma at
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the waters of Mormon, all based on faults, belief.
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Now the other thing, the other overlay that I wanted to mention
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it, it's directly related to this, and it has to do with
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this. When you have sin or something
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that is not according to God's will, something he doesn't want
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us to do leading up to that point, before a person sins,
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you'll notice that the Lord's pattern is to teach the
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commandments. It's to teach.
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Don't do that or do this. It's to give the directions to
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prevent somebody from falling into the sin.
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The adversary's model is to downplay the seriousness of that
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sin, so leading into it the devil is giving false beliefs.
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Noah becomes the symbolic placeholder for this devilish
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technique and the these devilish doctrines where the devil will
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teach other things, not God's commandments, that will cause
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people to believe them to the point where they feel
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comfortable enough in giving into those temptations and
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committing those sins. So the contrast is the Lord at
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the front end tells you the seriousness of sin and warns you
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not to do it. The devil minimizes it and
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encourages you to do it. And then when a person sins,
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there's this incredible reversal that takes place.
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Now. The prophets and the Lord on the
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back end teach the reality that this sin doesn't need to define
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you. You don't need to be held
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hostage to your past. Don't allow your current present
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self to be defined by the you of yesterday or yesteryear, but to
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move on and to embrace the mercy, the merits and the grace
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of the Holy Messiah, He being the only one who can go into the
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past and somehow make right that which I have made wrong.
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So it's this message of hope. It's this message of
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deliverance, the reality that this sin doesn't define you, but
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Christ defines you. You have a bright future,
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whereas the devil's approach is to discourage and to have that
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sin become a defining feature of who you are and to hold you
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hostage for the rest of your life.
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So he maximizes the significance of that sin that was committed,
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whereas before he was minimizing it Contrasted with the prophets
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and the Lord maximizing the importance to resist temptation
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and not commit sin beforehand versus the the minimizing of the
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power of that sin over your life if you will turn to Christ
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moving forward and allow him to define you and to shape you and
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demould you. It's a beautiful principle that
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we see throughout these chapters, especially this part
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of the process. You're going to see a Benedai
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doing everything he can to help prevent these people from
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falling into the sin, and you're going to see Noah and his
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priests doing everything they can to encourage people to go
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deeper into the sin. And then in next next week's
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lesson, it's Alma who spends significant time with the
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people, helping them repent and to come unto Christ and being
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able to move forward in their life.
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So with that overlay, let's jump into Chapter 11 and watch this
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play out. Watch the the verbs, what what
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are the actions that King Noah is taking?
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And notice how they become placeholders or symbols, types,
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shadows, whichever word you want to use there.
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For what the devil himself would do if he were preaching in
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person among these people, it says verse one.
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It came to pass that Zenith conferred the Kingdom upon Noah,
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one of his sons. Therefore Noah began to reign in
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his stead. And here's your first indication
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he did not walk in the ways of his father.
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That's your first type of Lucifer up in the Pre Mortal
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Council. He did not walk in the ways of
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his father. He chose to walk his own path,
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create his own false truths that that he was believing.
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Now let's continue with verse 2, for behold, he did not keep the
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commandments of God. He did walk after the desires of
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his own heart. He had many wives and
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concubines, and he did 'cause his people to commit sin and do
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that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord.
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Yeah, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of
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wickedness. You're noticing this, the
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significant aspect of the sin or sins that Noah is not only
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committing, but now encouraging and even causing his people to
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join him in committing. Every single one of them is
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inward turning, for instantaneous gratification and
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for self aggrandizement. It's it's all about what do I
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want right here, right now. What that in essence does is it
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takes the sin, takes the present self, and it then disregards all
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of the beautiful relationships and experiences of the past.
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It takes no thought for anyone or anything in the future and it
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reduces us all temptation and all sin reduces us to the
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present, right here, right now, what do I want?
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And so, in essence, my present self can now start to hold my
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future self hostage and my past self hostage, because I want
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this right here, right now. Everything in that list is tied
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into instantaneous gratification, which is what the
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devil is all about. That is his.
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That is his main foundational temptation, is you deserve this.
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You need this. You really want this?
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Just take it. There's no harm in this.
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Everybody else is doing it. And slowly those beliefs get to
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the point where people say, yeah, yeah, I'm going to be OK,
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And they look around at other people doing it and they join
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in. Verse four gives you this
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devilish motivation and all this.
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Did he take to support himself? You'll notice he wasn't
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encouraging this for the people's benefit.
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This was for his benefit and his wives and his concubines, and
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also his priests and their wives and their concubines.
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Thus he had changed the affairs of the Kingdom, and he put down
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all the priests that have been consecrated by his father, and
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he put in new priests, consecrated new ones that were
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his friends, that would agree with him.
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Because when you're changing beliefs, you don't want to
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surround yourself with people who are going to keep reminding
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you of truths that you don't want to have as part of your
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belief structure, because it gets in the way of what you want
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right here, right now. And so verse six tells us.
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And thus they were supported in their laziness and in their
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idolatry and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which King Noah had
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put upon his people. Thus did the people labour
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exceedingly to support iniquity. They're forgetting everything
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that they had learned from Zenith and before him from
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Mosiah the First. They're they're throwing that
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all away and they're replacing it with what Noah has to offer
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them right here, right now, which is instantaneous self
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gratification. Verse seven.
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Yeah. And they also became idolatrous
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because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of
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the king and priests, for they did speak flattering things unto
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them. It goes from verse 8 all the way
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down into verse 19. They're, they're at least I I've
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counted at least 25 from from the 1st of this chapter to verse
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19, at least 25 things that King Noah is doing to encourage
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people to sin and to get them to follow his example and to
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support him in in this kind of false belief and false
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leadership. And so that brings us to the
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solution. Mormon gave you, like I said, 19
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verses of setting up the significant problem.
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And then he gives us the solution, verse 20.
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And it came to pass that there was a man among them.
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Fascinating the wording there, because in other places it will
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tell you. And there came among them a man,
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or a man came among them, it sounds like from the outside.
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But in this case it says there was a man among them whose name
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was a Benedi. It sounds like he's a local,
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lives just down the street. He's watched the society degrade
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to the point where they're all labouring exceedingly to support
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the iniquity of the king and the priests.
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He went forth among them and began to prophecy, saying,
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Behold, thus saith the Lord, And thus hath he commanded me,
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saying, Go forth and say unto this people.
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Thus saith the Lord two times in a few lines.
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There you get Thus saith the Lord, which is the role of a
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prophet. It's not to go and figure out
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what public opinion is, Figure out which directions the winds
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of popularity are blowing, and then turn your back and push in
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that same direction. No, prophets are not called to
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tell people what people want to hear.
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Prophets are called by God to tell people what God wants them
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to hear. So God calls these prophets, and
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in this case Abinadai, to come to break people out of their
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present only view of life. Because when they're stuck in
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that present present ISM bubble, it's way easier for the devil to
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deceive them when they can't see clearly the knowledge and the
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wisdom of ages past and remember the captivity of their fathers
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and their own captivity in the past and to not pay attention to
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the future. So the Prophet breaks them out
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of this bubble so they can see more clearly and teaches them
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because God loves them. He wants them to be happy.
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He wants them to grow and develop.
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And sin will only decrease your development, your capacity to to
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build lasting relationships with people and to build connections
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with God. Sin disrupts everything on the
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covenant path. And so the prophet's job as a
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Benedict is going to demonstrate, is to give that
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good news, the glorious news of deliverance, which the natural
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man doesn't want to believe. The natural man or woman inside
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of us wants to believe the message that King Noah and his
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priests have been teaching. So here he comes speaking for
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the Lord and he's going to now speak in first person as if he
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were the Lord, thus saith the Lord.
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And then he's going to shift into a first person voice.
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We'll be under this people, for I have seen their abominations
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and their wickedness and their whoredoms, and except they
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repent. I will visit them in mine anger.
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Again, the the pronouns there, the personal pronouns.
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It's not a Benedict who's going to visit the people in his
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anger, it's the Lord. But it's much more powerful when
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it's delivered through the mouth of the prophet in that first
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person context. And then he says, except they
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repent and turn to the Lord their God.
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Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies.
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Either should be brought into bondage and they shall be
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afflicted by the hand of their enemies.
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Now what you can do with verse 20 down through 25 is Mark.
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Every time you see the word accept, it's this condition that
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he's setting up, except this people repent and turn unto me
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or unto the Lord their God. He gives multiple times this
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except clause, and then he follows it up with some
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incredibly difficult outcome. They're going to experience some
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consequences. So in verse 20 through 25, it
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would be an interesting study exercise to mark all of those
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and to not just have them be a benedize message to King Noah's
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people over 2000 years ago, but to contemplate how frequently
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our current prophets and apostles have given us similar
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warnings. Not these exact words, but
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similar concepts. Because that's what prophets do.
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They help us know how to prepare better and live in such a way
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that we don't bring down these natural consequences of bondage
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and destruction that come in a variety of forms.
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And now you get the people who allow their belief to become
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their truth. And they look at Abinadi and
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they look at King Noah. And then they look back at
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Abinadi and they say, well, this guy has judged us and he's
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making us feel guilty and making us feel bad.
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And so they go to King Noah and they tell him about what's been
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going on, assuming that he is is their their real deliverer, the
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good guy in the story from them based on their belief structure.
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And verse 27 says, now when King Noah had heard of the words of
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which a Bened I had spoken unto the people, he was also wrath.
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And he said, who is a benedai? That I and my people should be
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judged of him? Or who is the Lord that should
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bring upon my people such great affliction?
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Are you noticing the the devilish reflection here?
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Abinidae has been teaching God's people to try to get them to
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turn to Him, and Noah is talking about them as my people.
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He's he's claimed them. And and who is this Abinidae?
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And who is the Lord that's going to bring these these great
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afflictions upon me and my people?
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Noah has has really taken on this role to to a great degree.
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And you jump down verse 29. It says, Now the eyes of the
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people were blinded, therefore they hardened their hearts
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against the words of Abinadai and they saw from that time
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forward to take him. And King Noah hardened his heart
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against the word of the Lord and he did not repent of his evil
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doings. So you get that.
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First set of prophecies. They were all conditional,
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except you repent. These bad things are going to
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happen now. They seek him, seek his life,
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and he leaves, and then he comes back.
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After two years he gave the Lord gave the people an opportunity
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to apply the conditions that Abinad I had laid out for them,
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those conditions of repentance. And they didn't do it.
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In fact, they had deepened in their false beliefs and in their
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sins, following and upholding wickedness.
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So he comes back in two years in disguise.
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You can figure the the reason for the disguise so that he
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could go among the people freely and observe how are they doing?
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Have they met the conditions that were laid out by the time
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he has made his rounds? In this among these people
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there's no more need for the disguise.
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So he began to prophecy again, now two years later.
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Thus hath the Lord commanded me, saying of Benedai, Go and
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prophecy unto this my people, for they have hardened their
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hearts against my words. They have repented not of their
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evil doings. Therefore I will.
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You could mark it. I will.
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There's nothing conditional about that.
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It's imminent. I will visit them in my anger.
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Yeah. In my fierce anger will I visit
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them in their iniquities and abominations.
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I tried to get them out of their sins, but they refused.
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And so I'm going to now visit them where they are in their
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sins. And there's no no condition
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here. I will do this.
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So you watch. I will.
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And will I. In verse one.
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Verse two has it shall come to pass.
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They shall be brought into ponders.
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They shall be smitten on the cheeks.
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They shall be driven by men. They shall be slain.
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This is all very imminent. And you you can mark all of
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these imminent Prophecies all the way down to verse 8, the
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Wills and the shells. And by the time you get to verse
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8, there's only one condition that had been a die leaves them
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with one optional outcome. And he says, And it shall come
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to pass, that except they repent.
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There it is So after you've been brought into bondage, after
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you've been smitten and driven, if you still choose not to
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repent, I will utterly destroy them from off the face of the
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earth. So he's telling them I'm My
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whole goal is to get you to see the seriousness of those sins
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you've committed and to repent, turn to me and not keep being
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defined by those. The devil got you to sin.
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He tempted you to sin, and now that you've sinned, he's going
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to keep tempting you to stay rooted to those sins and to keep
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being defined by those sins. And he's a benedize here to say
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no, cut that, move forward, turn to God and repent.
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Don't keep turning to your sins and don't turn to King Noah for
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truth. And he tells them what's going
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to happen to King Noah, at which point he's now brought before
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the king, and he starts to be crossed by these people.
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In verse 19 They began to question him, that they might
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cross him, that thereby they might have wherewith to accuse
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him. But he answered them boldly and
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withstood all their questions, yay, to their astonishment.
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For he did withstand them in all their questions, and it could
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found them in all their words. So they're trying to prove that
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they're right. Our beliefs are right.
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You're judging us wrongly and harshly.
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And so they're trying to cross him, to prove him wrong, to feel
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justified in destroying him. One of the priests at that point
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brings up Isaiah, and he's he quotes this incredible prophecy
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from Isaiah, chapter 52. What meaneth the words which are
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written in which have been taught by our Father, saying how
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beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
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good tidings, that publishes peace, that bringeth good
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tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion
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thy God reigneth. So these priests, or this priest
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in particular, we don't know exactly the reason here, but
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many people have written about this, that that it makes sense
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that he would be using this argument to say, wait a minute,
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Isaiah said how beautiful upon the mountains are.
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The feet of him that publishes peace will abenit, I guess what?
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Your feet aren't beautiful upon any mountains because you're
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publishing doom and gloom. You're you're a bad guy.
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Now, you're not a true prophet because a true prophet will
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preach good things. It's such an interesting thing
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that they're trying to use Isaiah to trap Abinadi the
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prophet. Terrible idea.
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They're completely missing the point of Isaiah chapter 52, and
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Abinadi is going to bring this up a little bit later in the
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teaching as he gives the answer to their questions from Isaiah
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52 by quoting Isaiah chapter 53, which is the Suffering Servant
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chapter. It's that chapter where Jesus
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comes and he suffers, and we will cover that one when we get
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to chapter 14. In the meantime, Abededay now
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addresses this question of what are you teaching?
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You're priests, you're the king. What?
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What are you teaching the people?
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What? What is the truth that you're
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trying to teach? Have you taught them the
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commandments of God? And so he starts getting into
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the commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods
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before me. And then in verse 36, thou shalt
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not make into the any graven image or any likeness of
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anything in heaven above earth things which are in the earth
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beneath. We found Outback in Chapter 11
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that they're an idolatrous people.
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They've started to build idols. You can picture the King's
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palace filled with idols that they worship to become objects
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for their worship to become gods for them.
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And this makes them feel very, very uncomfortable.
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And so the king at the opening of chapter 13 commands away with
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this fellow and slay him for what have we to do with him?
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For he is mad. So now we're just going to call
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him crazy and just go kill him because he's he stepped over a
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line at this point. At which point he was stood
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them. And he gives that famous line.
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Touch me not, for God shall smite you if you lay your hands
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upon me. For I have not delivered the
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message with the which the Lord sent me to deliver.
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Neither have I told you that which you requested, that I
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should tell. Therefore God will not suffer
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that I shall be destroyed at this time.
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Keep in mind he's in a court, surrounded by people who all
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have the capacity to destroy him.
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He is unarmed. He's bound, having been brought
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before the king and his priests, and yet Abhinadai clearly
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presides in this setting. He is clearly in charge at this
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point, and will be until he has completed his divinely appointed
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mission as the prophet of God to this people.
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And then at that point He will submit to whatever they choose
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to do to him, which is beautifully Christ, like they
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could not kill the Saviour until He had completed his mission and
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His ministry and his infinite atoning sacrifice.
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Only then did He allow himself to be taken by men and turned
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himself over to them. Now He gives them the rest of
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the 10 Commandments, all ten of them, making them feel very
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uncomfortable. And then he asks them, have you
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taught this people that they should observe to do all these
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things for to keep these commandments?
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And then he answers for himself, I say unto you, nay, for if you
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had, the Lord would not have caused me to come forth, and to
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prophecy evil concerning this people.
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I'm not here because God despises you.
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I'm here because He's trying to save you.
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And if you had just been teaching these commandments,
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there would be no need for me to to preach these doctrines.
28:52
And then he answers a a very significant question, because if
28:56
we're not careful, we'll swing a pendulum too far and say, Oh
28:59
well, I just need to be perfect at keeping the commandments.
29:02
Then verse 28 says, moreover, I say unto you that salvation does
29:07
not come by the law alone. And at this point a Ben and I
29:12
gives a beautiful and in my opinion, one of the best
29:16
clarifications we can find in any scripture about the role of
29:21
the law, the role of keeping commandments and what it does
29:25
and what it doesn't do. Back in chapter 12, verse 31, he
29:31
he had asked them this question. You have said that you teach the
29:34
law of Moses. And what know you concerning the
29:36
law of Moses? Does salvation come by the law
29:39
of Moses? What say ye?
29:42
And they answered and said that salvation did come by the law of
29:45
Moses. So now to pick up that theme
29:48
from verse 31 and 32 in the previous chapter, he now
29:52
continues that thread forward with this incredibly clear and
29:58
powerful explanation of the Law. Verse 27.
30:02
And now you have said that salvation cometh by the law of
30:05
Moses. I say unto you that it is
30:08
expedient that you should keep the law of Moses as yet.
30:11
But so here's the qualifier. I say unto you, that the time
30:17
shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of
30:20
Moses. It is not an eternal law.
30:23
There will come a time when Jesus will fulfil that law.
30:26
Now he doesn't say that exact clarification here, but he says
30:30
it this way. And moreover I say unto you,
30:33
that salvation doth not come by the law alone.
30:37
And were it not for the Atonement which God Himself
30:41
shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that
30:45
they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the Law of
30:48
Moses, The Law of Moses is not your Saviour, The Saviour is
30:55
your Saviour, and the the means whereby he saves is through his
31:00
infinite Atonement. And now I say unto you, that it
31:03
was expedient that there should be a law given to the children
31:06
of Israel, even a very strict law, For they were a stiff
31:08
necked people, quick to do iniquity and slow to remember
31:12
the Lord their God. So He gave them this law.
31:16
It was a law, He describes here, of performances and of
31:20
ordinances. A law which they were to observe
31:22
strictly from day-to-day to keep them in remembrance of God and
31:26
their duty towards them. They needed that because they
31:29
weren't able to govern themselves quite yet.
31:32
So they needed a a more strict checklist, very easy to observe
31:37
law. That mentality helped them get
31:40
to the point where they could then be ready for the coming of
31:46
God in the flesh, Jesus Christ bringing the higher law as he
31:51
fulfills this older law. And then he shifts now fully
31:57
into this role of prophesying of Jesus Christ, the holy Messiah,
32:03
the solution to all of the problems that these people have
32:07
created and that we have created Verse 33.
32:10
For behold, did not Moses prophecy unto them concerning
32:14
the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his
32:18
people? Not the law, not the people, not
32:21
the king, not the priests, not your false beliefs.
32:24
None of that's going to save you.
32:26
Yeah. And even all the prophets who
32:29
have prophesied ever since the world began, have they not
32:32
spoken more or less concerning these things?
32:34
This is so beautiful because what's happening here is
32:43
Abinadai is making it very clear that all the prophets from the
32:50
beginning of time have all pointed more or less in one way
32:56
or another, either directly or symbolically.
33:00
They've all pointed people to the coming of the Messiah, to
33:07
Jesus Christ, and he clarifies who that Messiah is in verse 34.
33:13
Have they not said that God himself should come down among
33:18
the children of men and take upon him the form of man, and go
33:21
forth and mighty power upon the face of the earth?
33:24
Brothers and sisters, this doctrine of God coming among
33:28
man, we call it from first Nephi 11, the doctrine of the
33:32
condescension of God. This is considered blasphemy to
33:39
many people in BC times and it's the reason that Abinadai is
33:46
going to have his life taken from him, he tells them here all
33:52
the prophets have said that God is going to come down and take
33:55
upon himself flesh the form of man.
33:58
To many people in antiquity that is seen as blasphemy.
34:02
How dare you say that God could possibly come down and become
34:07
like man? In fact, he gives you that
34:11
statement there. And then if you look across the
34:14
page over at chapter 15, verse one, after giving Isaiah chapter
34:21
53 in the middle, he he basically bookends Isaiah 53
34:26
with God himself is going to come down among the children of
34:29
men and take upon himself the form of man.
34:31
And then he finishes it with And now abenit, I said unto them, I
34:35
would that you should understand that God himself shall come down
34:38
among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.
34:42
He bookends that that most incredible of all the Isaiah
34:45
chapters, in my opinion. And it's that statement that
34:50
ends up being his death sentence over in chapter 17.
34:54
When King Noah brings him forth, he's going to say, a Benedi, We
34:58
have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of
35:01
death. For thou has said that God
35:04
himself shall come down among the children of men.
35:07
Now for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou will
35:11
recall all the words which thou has spoken evil concerning me
35:13
and my people. That is the same reason that
35:16
Limb High gave to Ammon last week.
35:18
In those chapters he says we killed a prophet because he said
35:21
God would come down among the children, and he taught the
35:24
doctrine of condescension. And now we live in a world where
35:28
people don't seem to have as much of an issue with the
35:31
condescension doctrine that Jesus, a God, came down and and
35:36
became like us. Now the doctrine that people
35:40
choke on and get upset about is the doctrine of deification or
35:45
exaltation. How dare you?
35:47
Blasphemy and say that you could ever become anything even close
35:52
to like God. That's the doctrine that brings
35:56
down ire and anger and frustration in our world today,
36:01
much more so than the doctrine of condescension as it did back
36:05
in the BC times. So now, with that foundation,
36:09
God himself coming down bracketed, He then recites to
36:14
them and quotes to them Isaiah 53.
36:19
This is a chapter that is not to be taken lightly.
36:22
And this is a chapter that needs to be studied quietly,
36:28
seriously, with deep pondering and reflection as you consider
36:33
everything that Jesus Christ has given for us, And hopefully in
36:39
the process we can stop and realize when he gives us
36:43
commandments, when he gives us that invitation to repent and to
36:49
turn to him. It's not an invitation to
36:53
experience things that Jesus doesn't already know personally.
36:58
Notice he says He is despised and rejected of men, a man of
37:03
sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hit, as it were,
37:09
our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed
37:12
him not. Now.
37:14
The promise is this. If we'll repent, if we'll follow
37:19
the Savior, if we'll listen to His prophets, if we'll give heed
37:24
to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and turn to Him, we will
37:28
experience some degree of rejection and despising from
37:33
this world that's filled with other beliefs.
37:36
We'll experience sorrows and become acquainted with grief.
37:40
But we will not ever do that alone.
37:44
We will always have the promise of Jesus Christ being with us,
37:49
walking that path. He had to walk it alone,
37:54
President Holland said. So that you and I would never
37:58
have to be alone when we walk it.
38:01
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
38:08
Isn't it interesting that he then invites you to take up your
38:12
cross at an infinitesimally small level?
38:15
He invites us to then bear his griefs and carry his sorrows,
38:21
which weren't his they were ours, but to walk with Him.
38:25
It's this beautiful connection with Christ that He's inviting
38:30
us into through his infinite suffering.
38:33
And you can read the entire Chapter 14 slowly, carefully,
38:38
and I would invite you to read it out loud.
38:41
That is, the way that the ancient scripture was
38:44
predominantly interacted with is verbally out loud.
38:50
It was intended to be spoken and heard, not just silently.
38:55
Read and read it slowly and carefully, many times with the
39:01
question in mind of what can I do to more fully appreciate and
39:09
connect with the Saviour, the Messiah, the Christ, the the God
39:15
who condescended to come down and take upon him our flesh and
39:20
to walk our soil? At which point he then gets into
39:24
chapter 15, where again he introduced it saying God himself
39:29
will come down among the children of men.
39:31
This isn't going to be the sacrifice of a of a typical
39:34
person or of an animal sacrifice.
39:37
This is going to be a sacrifice of a God.
39:40
That is the only thing that could provide this infinite
39:43
atonement. And he then gives this
39:45
clarification of how the Messiah is both a father and a Son.
39:55
It's the same being. It's one eternal God, but the
39:59
Son. In this context, becomes our
40:04
father, the father of our spiritual rebirth, the Father of
40:07
our resurrection, the Father of our eternal life.
40:10
He engenders that new life. And some people reading chapter
40:14
15 get really confused trying to figure out are are we
40:18
Trinitarian? Is that what this doctrine is?
40:22
If you just keep in mind we're talking about the Messiah, the
40:26
Christ, Jesus Christ, how he has both roles when it comes to our
40:32
salvation and then you come down to verse 9.
40:36
And I love this. This is one of the most
40:37
beautiful passage or one of the most beautiful verses of all
40:40
scripture to describe the Saviour's Atonement.
40:44
He says, having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of
40:48
mercy, being filled with compassion towards the children
40:51
of men standing betwixt them, and justice, having broken the
40:56
bands of death, taken upon himself, their iniquity and
41:00
their transgressions, having redeemed them and satisfied the
41:05
demands of justice. Such a beautiful principle that
41:10
here I stand, and here is eternal justice that has to meet
41:17
out a punishment for my sin, for my breakage of the law.
41:24
So here comes the the punishment of justice, and it has my name
41:30
on it. And Jesus Christ stands betwixt
41:37
me and justice. He absorbs that arrow.
41:43
He takes everything that was intended for me, and he takes it
41:50
for himself. Brothers and sisters, There are
41:53
no words to describe when you stop and really think about what
41:58
Jesus Christ did. For for each of us, there are no
42:01
words to describe how much we should love him and trust him.
42:08
When you consider, if he hadn't done that, the eternal weight of
42:13
justice that would have been inflicted upon us, the
42:16
punishments that we would have had to have endured, is it any
42:20
wonder that we sing? I stand all amazed at the love
42:26
Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers
42:35
me. After absorbing this, this
42:38
eternal weight of justice, he then turns to us and says, Will
42:45
you not now repent? Will you not now turn to me and
42:51
come unto me that I can heal you?
42:54
Will you not trust me? Will you not make a a covenant
42:58
connection with me? Will you not walk with me on
43:03
this path? His commandments, the words from
43:06
his prophets, These are not things intended to inflict
43:10
anything negative on us. They're intended to help us
43:16
access a fullness of the grace that so fully He proffers me and
43:22
you. So he then describes more of
43:27
that atoning process in verse 10 through 13, and then he jumps
43:33
into chapter 52 of Isaiah, which is what started this whole
43:38
conversation. So we've got a little bit of a
43:40
chiastic structure going on here because he now brings them back
43:44
to that statement of you asked about the beautiful feet upon
43:48
the mountains. Oh how beautiful upon the
43:51
mountains were their feet. And how how beautiful upon the
43:55
mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace.
43:58
And again, how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those
44:00
who shall hereafter publish peace.
44:02
Yeah, from this time, henceforth and forever, He's describing the
44:08
real feet upon the mountain that are the most beautiful of all.
44:14
And those are the feet of Jesus Christ.
44:16
And his publishing of peace came in the most non peaceful
44:23
circumstance. When those Roman soldiers are
44:26
piercing those beautiful feet upon the mountain.
44:31
It's through Jesus absorbing all of the justice, all of the
44:37
injustice that this world could mete out and and falsely judge
44:41
him by and Pierce those feet on the mountain.
44:46
That is the message of peace for us.
44:49
By His stripes we are healed, and now it's our opportunity,
44:57
It's our privilege. It's our incredible blessing to
45:01
live in a day when we have technology, when we have
45:05
scriptures in multiple formats and languages, when we have
45:09
living prophets and access to their words constantly telling
45:14
us things that God wants us to hear.
45:16
To now go and put our feet on the mountain and publish that
45:24
piece so that people can hear the glorious message of the
45:29
gospel. Back in Isaiah's time, when
45:31
they're fighting wars, your army would go out and you would send
45:35
runners to a mountain that could then signal back to the people
45:39
in the city so they would know what was happening out there at
45:41
the battle and how beautiful upon the mountains were.
45:45
The feet of the person, the runner, the messenger who could
45:50
give the message to publish peace, to say thy God reigneth.
45:54
The victory is secure, we have overcome, we've won.
45:59
And then the watchman on the towers of the city can raise
46:03
their voice together and make it known to all the people in the
46:06
city. And they see eye to eye and they
46:08
can all declare our God reigneth.
46:13
That is the message of not just a Benedict, but all of the holy
46:17
prophets in the past, as well as every time any of our prophets,
46:21
surgeon, revelators, stand at the pulpits today and speak to
46:24
us. That is their message.
46:27
It is a message of peace. It is a message of hope.
46:30
It is a message of truth that our God reigneth.
46:35
And they're giving us the commandments that we need to
46:38
better connect with God and to be able to declare those those
46:42
beautiful promises to more people so our feet can join his
46:48
and the others on that mountain declaring the peace.
46:52
And by the way, the best place to do that is in the home.
46:57
The church is doing everything to support this home centered
47:02
instruction. Gone are the days when we should
47:06
just rely on Sunday school teachers and young men and young
47:09
women leaders and seminary teachers to do all of that
47:12
proclaiming of the gospel from the mountains.
47:16
But better if families are doing that, and then supported by all
47:22
of these other church organizations as scaffolding to
47:25
give more support to establish those those truths in the lives
47:30
of our of our rising generations.
47:34
Now he finishes his speech here in chapter 15 with this glorious
47:39
promise of the resurrection. Verse 22.
47:41
Now the resurrection of all the prophets and of all those that
47:44
have believed in their words, or all those that have kept the
47:48
commandments of God, shall come forth in the first resurrection.
47:52
Therefore they are the first resurrection, and they are
47:55
raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them.
47:59
Thus they have eternal life through Christ who has broken
48:02
the bands of death. Isn't it amazing that Christ can
48:06
command the elements, He can command the water, the air, the
48:10
mountains to move, and they have no choice.
48:13
They will obey. But he commands us, and we have
48:18
a choice. And we often choose not to obey.
48:21
But oh, when we do listen, hearken, and obey.
48:26
The promises are incredible. If we will give him our life in
48:33
return, He promises us eternal life.
48:38
Through Christ his life, He He gives us His life, and in return
48:45
he asked us to give him our life.
48:49
And then he talks about those who don't have the law and
48:54
little children. They also have eternal life.
48:57
You don't need to worry about them.
48:59
But you King Noah, and your priests you ought to tremble.
49:04
For salvation cometh unto none such.
49:06
For the Lord has redeemed none such a neither can the Lord
49:08
redeem such, for he cannot deny himself.
49:12
We cannot deny justice when it has its claim.
49:15
Jesus stood between you and justice, but you're refusing to
49:19
accept it. So he can't force you to love
49:22
him. He can't force you to do the
49:25
things that he's asked you to do.
49:28
And then over in chapter 16, he concludes his speech with this
49:33
sobering concept. Verse 4.
49:36
Thus all mankind were lost. And behold, they would have been
49:40
endlessly lost were not that God redeemed his people from their
49:44
lost and fallen state. He arrived to redeem us and to
49:48
to help us, lift us and to save us.
49:52
And then he goes on to say, Speaking of Jesus in verse nine,
49:55
he is the light and the life of the world.
49:58
Yeah, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened.
50:01
Yeah, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no
50:04
more death. And now he reminds us of the
50:07
reality of the truth. Regardless of public opinion,
50:11
regardless of your belief, there is a reality.
50:15
President Nelson has talked about this reality.
50:17
Everybody's going to die. Everybody's going to be
50:19
resurrected, Everybody's going to be judged.
50:23
Look at verse 11 And if they be good to the resurrection of
50:26
endless life and happiness, and if they be evil, to the
50:28
resurrection of endless damnation being delivered up to
50:30
the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation, having
50:34
gone according to their own carnal wills and desires, having
50:38
never called upon the Lord. While the arms of mercy were
50:42
extended towards them, for the arms of mercy were extended
50:46
towards them, and they would not.
50:48
So while Jesus is absorbing the the pains of justice, he's
50:55
extending the arms of mercy to us.
50:59
He takes the justice and extends the mercy, and yet these people
51:04
would not take it. And so his final invitation to
51:08
them is Now ought you not to tremble and repent of your sins?
51:11
And remember that only in and through Christ you can be saved.
51:14
Therefore, if you teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is
51:18
a shadow of those things which are to come, teach them that
51:22
redemption cometh through Christ the Lord who is the very eternal
51:28
Father. Amen.
51:30
In fact, if this were a a college essay, I think that
51:36
verse 13 through 15 might be a good candidate for a Benedize
51:41
thesis statement, even though it comes at the very, very, very
51:45
end. His concluding statement, in my
51:47
mind, is the encapsulating thesis of everything he has
51:52
taught. Everything he's been doing among
51:55
these people is rooted in those in those verses, especially
51:59
verse 15. Teach them that redemption
52:02
cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very eternal Father.
52:07
Amen. Now at that point the king
52:11
commanded the priests that they should take him and 'cause that
52:13
he should be put to death. But there's one young man named
52:18
Elma, one of the priests. If you do the math, it looks
52:21
like he's somewhere in his mid 20s.
52:24
He believed the words which have been that I had spoken for he
52:27
knew concerning the iniquity which have been and I had
52:29
testified against them. So his belief structure has been
52:34
broken open and he's recognized the light shining in that
52:39
domain, and he's seen truth and he's now changed his perspective
52:45
and he believes. But in response it says the king
52:49
was more wroth and 'cause that Elma should be cast out from
52:52
among them and send his servants after him that they might slay
52:55
him. So he kicks out Elma and then
52:57
sends the servants to kill him. And thank heaven that we have
53:02
Alma 1 surviving convert from a Bennadai's ministry, because
53:08
that one person is going to be the seed, if you will, of these
53:15
generations of prophets for the entire rest of the Book of
53:20
Mormon, these leaders of the people.
53:23
In a spiritual way and in many cases even in a political way,
53:27
Alma is going to now be the Lord's instrument in carrying
53:32
forth this message of repentance and redemption that cometh
53:37
through Christ the Lord, who's a very eternal Father.
53:41
They throw a Benedi into prison, and three days he's in prison in
53:46
verse 6 and they're counselling. How?
53:47
How can we how can we appropriately kill him according
53:54
to the law of Moses? And then they bring him out and
53:58
they say we have found an accusation against thee.
54:01
For those of you who want to spend a little more time looking
54:05
at some potential places, we don't know for sure because they
54:07
don't tell us. But they've they've been
54:10
searching, and verse 7 says we have found an accusation against
54:15
thee. After three days of pouring over
54:17
their scriptures, I I wonder if if that was a new experience for
54:21
many of them looking for how can we justify killing him?
54:25
Here are some potential places to look in the Old Testament for
54:33
how they might have misinterpreted the words to then
54:38
condemn him. Deuteronomy chapter 13, one
54:41
through 5. Or perhaps Deuteronomy 17, verse
54:45
two through 7, Or perhaps Deuteronomy 1820 through 22.
54:52
Or maybe Leviticus chapter 24, verse 15 through 16.
55:01
And as you read these passages, perhaps some of them might have
55:05
also been used by members of the Sanhedrin to feel justified in
55:12
condemning Jesus Christ himself and turning him over to the
55:17
Romans for execution. They accuse him of blasphemy.
55:23
Well, if you read and interpret these in certain ways, not in
55:28
truth ways, things as they are, as they were and as they are to
55:32
come, but in belief structures of people at the time, like the
55:38
Sanhedrin, or in this case like King Noah and his priests, you
55:43
can see how easily you could twist some of these statements
55:46
here to become condemnatory or or to become condemning for not
55:53
just a benedai but for Jesus Christ himself.
55:57
And here at the end of of this story with a benedai, he is
56:02
willing to allow himself to be taken.
56:05
He's fulfilled his mission. I love this great prophet.
56:09
He didn't do anything that would give him instantaneous
56:13
gratification. He wasn't seeking for
56:15
popularity. His message was not popular.
56:19
He was seeking to do God's will. I want to be more like a benedai
56:24
because a benedai is so much like Jesus Christ.
56:28
A Benedai's message, his life, his mission becomes for me yet
56:34
another lens in a wide variety of lenses in the Scriptures
56:42
through which I can see more clearly my Savior Jesus Christ
56:47
and His redemptive power in my life and in the lives of my
56:52
loved ones and in the lives of all of us in the world today.
56:56
I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the
57:03
Son of God who came down and becomes the everlasting Father
57:09
of our rebirth, of our resurrection, and of our eternal
57:14
life. He engenders new life in US, and
57:18
I love Him with all of my heart for having fulfilled his role so
57:23
perfectly. And I plead with him that he'll
57:27
help me fulfill my role. And you fulfill your role in
57:31
declaring these glad tidings in all the world today.
57:35
And I leave that with you. In the name of Jesus Christ.
57:38
Amen. Know that you're loved.