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TODAY'S THEME
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The Continuation of King Benjamin's Speech (about 124 B.C. -by Gary Kapp |
Mosiah 4:1 AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.
3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.
4 And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.
5 For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—
6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.
9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
13 And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.
14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.
17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—
18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.
21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.
22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.
23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.
24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.
25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.
26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.
27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
28 And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.
29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.
Therefore, after prophesying of the coming of Jesus Christ and of His atonement and redemption of mankind, (as recorded in my just previous post, 35j), King Benjamin, as recorded in TODAY'S THEME, taught his people what they should do, and also what they should not do, so as to live in accordance with what the Lord Jesus Christ will have done for this good king's people. I should add, with what He has done for each of us too.30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.
I will end this post by offering to assist you to assess what you need to do to come into satisfactory compliance with each of the things King Benjamin admonished his people to do.
You may want to print the questionnaire in this last part of this post.
You Should Consider printing from here on down (I personally would scroll down to the end of this questionnaire and start highlighting from the bottom of it and go up. However, you should do it in the way that you would usually do it.)
BEGINNING OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
(Note: I was unable to make the lines on which your answers should go any longer than you see, but you can extend your answers on from the end of the line to give you more space where that is needed.)
When you have the following questions printed, I suggest that you close down this blog post and spend time carefully and prayerfully contemplating the answers you may have given to these very important questions this prophet, King Benjamin asked of his people. I believe they apply to you and me too.
Because they were asked by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation possessed by the king, they are what the Lord Jesus Christ had asked him to ask.
These questions with your writing in your answers on the lines, just after each of King Benjamin's questions I have listed for you, can be your Key Project for the day or maybe tomorrow if there isn't enough time left today. It won't take long to write your answers with a pen or pencil. This is something just for yourself to write and read, not for others, unless it is someone close to you with whom you choose to share your answers.
Of course the next step you may want to take is to decide how to change your personal life to be more in compliance with what the Lord, Jesus Christ, through the words of His ancient prophet Benjamin, desires of you. That may involve much more time!
Here is the Questionnaire:
1. Have you "come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men?"
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2. Have you "come to a knowledge of the goodness of God regarding the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world that thereby salvation might come to him/her that should put his/her trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping His commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of this life, I mean the life of the mortal body?"
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3. Do you "believe in god; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend"?
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4. ". . . Do you believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things" will you see that ye do them"?
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5. Will you always "remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creature, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel? (And shown by word and picture illustrations in my previous blog post. (35j)
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6. Will ye "not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due"?
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7. And will ye "not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will you suffer that they transgress the the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of . . .?
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8. "Will you teach them (your children) to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; (and) teach them to love one another, and to serve one another?"
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9. . . . "ye yourselves, will (you) succor those that stand in need of your succor; (and) administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and . . not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish?" ( This appears to apply to those really in need, not those who beg as their perverted way of "earning a living" when they could actually be earning a living like most of the rest of us.)
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10. Would you say if the person begging wasn't really capable of earning a living (because of serious handicaps illnesses he or she may have) the following: "The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just?"
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11. "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
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12. (If you had been in the position of these Nephites King Benjamin was speaking to) and had "been calling on his (God's) name, and begging for a remission of your sins, and has he (God) suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy"?
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13. "And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another." (Unless the person begging is a con man or woman who earns his "living" to at least some extent, by "conning" (deceiving) others.)
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14. "And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done"?
(con men and women aren't ones who are near to perishing. I don't believe that in King Benjamin's day there were con-men and women like in our day. If there had been I'm sure he would have told his people to steer clear of giving to them)
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15. This one could apply to some of you and perhaps, to some extent, to me: "And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not: I would that ye say in your hearts that: 'I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.' "
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16. King Benjamin advises: "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. . ."
17. "And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shall commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.
You may want to comment briefly about this admonition given by the good Nephite king:
"But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not."________________________________
I hope that by your answering those questions posed originally by King Benjamin with some phraseology added by me, Neil Birch, Blog author, helped you to discern how you are doing regarding these matters King Benjamin and God consider to be important. I (Neil Birch) need to make some improvement in some of these matters in my own personal life.
PS I added the part about "con men and women" because I have had to personally reconcile my not giving to such persons when it is easy to tell that is what they are. There are often city laws here that urge us not to help, what I call, "con artists." This is my own personal procedure, but I think that many others agree with me on this. Your laws may be very different in your part of the world from ours here in the Salt Lake City, Utah area of the U.S.A.
End your Highlighting here and go up to the beginning of the questionnaire and then print what you have highlighted. (Or if you do like I do and start highlighting from here, highlight up to the beginning of this questionnaire and then print.)
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This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access): After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: King Benjamin's People Were Convinced of Their King's Testimony of Christ and Vowed to Serve Christ Always! -Post 35k. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
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Neil Birch
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