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.
Mosiah 4:9-13
If you are looking for a brief summary of Benjamin’s sermon,
verse 9 provides it. Believe in God,
Benjamin tells us. He created the
heavens and the earth. God has all
wisdom. Paul wrote the Romans:
33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his
ways past finding out!
34
For who hath known the mind of the Lord?
or who hath been his counsellor?
35
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for
ever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36
Benjamin tells us we cannot comprehend all things. Only the Lord can comprehend all things. Isaiah also made the same point. “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah
55:8-9).
Dilworth Parkinson further explains.
Can you see that King Benjamin is
not just telling us that we don't know everything; he is asking us to believe
it, to make it a matter of faith. It is so easy to forget that we must make it
an article of faith, something we need to keep reminding ourselves of. Believe
that you don't comprehend everything the Lord comprehends. Make that belief a
cornerstone of your life, bringing its insights to bear on the problems you
encounter. I don't have it all figured out right now. There are some things
that still don't fit in, but I have a witness that the Lord understands and
knows the answers to those things and that they do fit in, so I can be
satisfied with where I am in my progress right now. Although it sounds
paradoxical, I would like to suggest that if we can get a witness of this point,
a testimony that we don't know (along with our testimonies of the things that
we do know), our progress in this line-upon-line test will be much smoother.[1]
We must believe that we must repent of and forsake our
sins. We must humble ourselves before God. When we ask for his forgiveness, we must be
sincere in our request and believe.
David wrote, “I said, LORD, be
merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee” (Psalms 41:4). The Lord commanded the elder of the church “who are assembled upon this spot, whose
sins are now forgiven you, for I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto
those who confess their sins with humble hearts” (D&C 61:2). “Does that sound authoritarian? We seem to
forget that these words were handed not only to Benjamin but also to Joseph
Smith by an angel from another sphere. Their purpose is to help prepare us for
that other sphere. Do not expect the words of the angel to be like other texts,
conservative or liberal.”[2]
The Savior taught the same thing with His parable of the
wise and foolish man.
24
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto [GR he will resemble] a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [GR
the rock].
25
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a crock.
26
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27
No doubt King Benjamin was aware of the words of Nephi.
19
And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path,
I would ask if all is done? Behold, I
say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of
Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is
mighty to save.
20
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a
perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward,
feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the
Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
21
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other
way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of
God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine
of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end.
2 Nephi 31:19-21
Benjamin gives us a series of steps to follow.
·
“[Y]e have
come to the knowledge of the glory of God”
“[Benjamin] says that they have come to the ‘knowledge of the glory of God,’ as they have ‘tasted
of his love’ (Mosiah 4:11). The Lord connects being born again with being a
partaker of the glory of God. He says, ‘All those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the
same, and are the church of the Firstborn’ (D&C 93:22).”[3]
·
“[Ye] have
tasted of God’s love” David wrote
about tasting God’s love. “O taste and
see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalms
34:8). Alma2 could be confirming
Benjamin’s words in his advice to his son, Helaman.
24
Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I
might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the
exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be
filled with the Holy Ghost.
25
Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in
the fruit of my labors;
26
For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been
born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I
have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I
do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.
Alma 36:24-26
·
“[Ye] have
received a remission of your sins
o
“[Ye] have
exceedingly great joy in your souls”
·
“[Ye]
should remember and always retain a remembrance of the greatness of God”
·
“[Ye]
should remember and always retain a remembrance of … your own nothingness” Writing to the Romans, Paul said,
6
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die.
8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
“An individual would be
presumptuous to claim to be a saint, because such a declaration implies a claim
to purity that is not in keeping with acknowledging our nothingness before the
Lord (see Mosiah 4:11).”[4]
·
“[Ye]
should remember his goodness and long-suffering towards you”
·
“[Ye]
should humble yourselves even in the depths of humility”
·
“[Ye]
should call on the name of the Lord daily”
·
“[Ye]
should stand steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come”
If we do all these things, we will rejoice and obtain a
remission of our sins. Alma2
described this rejoicing. “And now behold, I say unto you, my
brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing
the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26).
We “shall grow in the
knowledge of the glory of him that crated you.”
“And what is that glory? Intelligence, the greatest fun of all, with
no room for invidious comparison, rivalry, and jealousy that characterize the
competitive business and professionalism, since truth alone is the object
(Mosiah 4:13—16).”[5]
M. Catherine Thomas explains.
Is it possible that it was not just
the news that the Savior will minister on the earth in a hundred years or so
that was intended to fill them with joy—because they already knew all the
prophecies of the holy prophets with respect to the Savior's ministry—but that
the atonement was about to become very personal to them? Was
their faith in the Lord about to become knowledge? This joy announced by the
angel was not to be just a momentary experience. If they were diligent unto
prayer (see Moroni 8:26) and obedient to the other instructions their king
would give them, they could retain this perfect love and joy in their hearts
and even "grow in the knowledge of the glory of [God]" (Mosiah 4:12).[6]
Should the people follow King Benjamin’s counsel, they 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”
No doubt Benjamin faced several
crises during his lifetime. As has been discussed above, one of his most urgent
needs was to promote unity among his people. The first and last things said in
reference to Benjamin in the Book of Mormon are about contentions. Judging by
Benjamin's comments to the rich and the poor, class stratification was
a problem that had developed among these people. To strengthen his
community, Benjamin's first covenantal stipulation for the people was that
parents should teach the youth that they should "not have a mind to injure
one another, but to live peaceably" one with another (Mosiah 4:13).[7]
[1] "We
Have Received, and We Need No More," Dilworth B. Parkinson, Maxell
Institute, accessed August 4, 2014.
[2] Assembly
and Atonement – Public and Private, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute,
accessed August 4, 2014.
[3] King
Benjamin and the Mysteries of God, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute,
accessed August 4, 2014.
[4] Romans
1 – Verses 1–7, Maxwell Institute, accessed August 4, 2014.
[5] Last
Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell
Institute, accessed August 4, 2014.
[6] King
Benjamin and the Mysteries of God, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute,
accessed August 4, 2014
[7] Benjamin's
Speech: A Masterful Oration, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed August
4, 2014.
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