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TODAY'S THEME
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King Benjamin Testifies of Jesus Christ From the Temple Wall (124 B.C.) -by Gary Capp |
Mosiah 3:1 AND again my brethren, I would call your attention, for I have somewhat more to speak unto you; for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come.
2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.
3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy.
5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. (emphasis added)
Jesus Healing Nephite Children
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| Jesus is Born -by Carl Heinrich Bloch |
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
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| Jesus Suffers in Gethsemane -by Harry Anderson |
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.
10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold , he standeth to judge the world, and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.
The Crucifixion -by Harry Anderson
Why Weepest Thou -by Simon Dewey 11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.
Jesus Christ -by Harry Anderson 12 But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
13 And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.
14 Yet the Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people, and he appointed unto them a law, even the law of Moses.
Moses and the Tablets of Stone -by Jerry Harston
15 And many signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; and also holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; and yet they hardened their hearts, and understood not that the law of Moses availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of his blood.
16 And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.
17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
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| Jesus Blessing Children -by Del Parson |
18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, mek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
Photographs and Painting: lds.org
. . .spread throughout every Nation . . .
21 And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent.
Painting: Del Parson
TODAY'S THEME was the prophetic, inspiring speech given by King Benjamin to his people at the time he had called them together to announce that his son, Mosiah was to become their king after he would soon die. The thoughts that he expressed are so very pertinent to each of us too. Please think through everything King Benjamin taught as if it applies to you. Because it does!
One might ask why, as was reported at the end of the previous post, was the Resurrected Jesus Christ able to tell the Nephite people that they were showing much more faith than did the Jewish people among whom He taught and served during His mortal life?
I submit that the testimony of Jesus Christ as spoken by the Nephite King, Benjamin, long before Christ's birth in Jerusalem and His visits to the Nephites just after His resurrection, is evidence that the tradition of righteous prophets, in this case, a prophet-king, helped prepare generations of men and women who were very prepared for Christ's visit when the time came for him to come! That is just one example as to why the Lord could tell the Nephites He visited after His resurrection:
III Nephi 13:35 . . .So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.
By the way, Benjamin's words in TODAY'S THEME were the actual words that he spoke to his people. He had them recorded word for word, by hand! No ancient or modern man made them up!
There are professionals in our day who have developed the skill of determining if two different written recordings were delivered by two different persons or the same person. That takes special training to do that accurately. There are experts at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (Provo, Utah - U.S.A.) who have written about such a skill and know of those who actually have developed such.
Such experts have demonstrated very accurately that there are differences in the way or style of speaking of, for instance, the various prophets whose statements or talks are recorded throughout the Book of Mormon.
While reading recently about the "Joseph Smith Papers" projects (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) one of the experts who is assigned to that project reported that the voice that the Prophet Joseph Smith uses in things he reports in his history by writing himself or by dictating to a scribe, is definitely not the voice which those experts "hear" while reading the revelations from the Lord Jesus Christ which are spoken through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
In the case of the small plates of Nephi (I Nephi through Omni) that is particularly true, because in each of the records on those plates, Mormon nor anyone else was alleged to have edited anything in them. Each prophet, on those plates wrote his own messages which were translated, through the power of God, by Joseph Smith.
I have read a report many years ago from a written voice expert that as he read through the books of seven different writers; Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, each wrote in those books), he detected seven unique "voices."
I want each of you to know that claims made by very misguided people (who in most every case have never really read the Book of Mormon), that Joseph Smith "made up" that which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, are undeniably wrong!
I want you each to personally know, by the Spirit of the Lord, that I know the Book of Mormon contains the words of prophets who were inspired by the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope each of you will gain that same testimony. To help yourself gain such, I urge you to prayerfully read the following verses from the Book of Moroni:
Moroni 10: 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
____________5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
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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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Neil Birch
