24 And thus saith the Lord: They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his aworks, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.
26 Therefore, they have drunk out of the acup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them than it could deny that bAdam should fall because of his partaking of the forbidden cfruit; therefore, dmercy could have claim on them no more forever.
27 And their atorment is as a blake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up cforever and ever. Thus hath the Lord commanded me. Amen.
27 And their atorment is as a blake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up cforever and ever. Thus hath the Lord commanded me. Amen.
THE BOOK OF MOSIAH
CHAPTER 4
King Benjamin continues his address—Salvation comes because of the atonement—Believe in God to be saved—Retain a remission of your sins through faithfulness—Impart of your substance to the poor—Do all things in wisdom and order. About 124 B.C.
2 And they had aviewed themselves in their own bcarnal state, even cless than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the datoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be epurified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who fcreated 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 aremission of their sins, and having peace of bconscience, because of the exceeding cfaith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the dwords 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 anothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—
6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a aknowledge 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 batonement which has been prepared from the cfoundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his dtrust 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 afall 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 anone 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 aGod; believe that he is, and that he bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
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 atasted of his love, and have received a bremission 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 cnothingness, and his dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ehumility, fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
13 And ye will not have a amind to injure one another, but to live bpeaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.
When I was a missionary I heard a lot of people say that they wanted to believe the gospel but they just couldn't comprehend some aspect of it. Some common hurdles people struggled with are: how did an angel appear to Joseph Smith, how could he translate the plates if he only had a third grade education, how do people actually feel the Spirit, how can the Lord choose a prophet today and give him revelation...the list goes on and on. Most of these things are intellectual or academic questions. What Mosiah teaches us in verse 9 is that we can't understand all the ways of the Lord but that's OK. In fact, the only way we can ever show the Lord that we have faith is to be kept from the actual "proof" of a truth. This aspect of faith is such a valuable concept that I am thankful to have been taught in my youth.
When I was a missionary I heard a lot of people say that they wanted to believe the gospel but they just couldn't comprehend some aspect of it. Some common hurdles people struggled with are: how did an angel appear to Joseph Smith, how could he translate the plates if he only had a third grade education, how do people actually feel the Spirit, how can the Lord choose a prophet today and give him revelation...the list goes on and on. Most of these things are intellectual or academic questions. What Mosiah teaches us in verse 9 is that we can't understand all the ways of the Lord but that's OK. In fact, the only way we can ever show the Lord that we have faith is to be kept from the actual "proof" of a truth. This aspect of faith is such a valuable concept that I am thankful to have been taught in my youth.
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