34 I say unto you,
that there are not any among you, except it be your little children that have
not been taught concerning these things, but what knoweth that ye are eternally
indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are;
and also have been taught concerning the records which contain the prophecies
which have been spoken by the holy prophets, even down to the time our father,
Lehi, left Jerusalem;
35 And also, all that
has been spoken by our fathers until now. And behold, also, they spake that
which was commanded them of the Lord; therefore, they are just and true. (Mosiah
2:34-35).
King Benjamin continues speaking to his people.
Everything he has taught, they knew. The only exception is
the little children who have not yet been taught these things.
They are indebted to God to give to Him all they have and
are.
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung [GR refuse], that I may win
Christ,
“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith:
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians
3:8-10).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove [GR test, try, prove] what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
They also have been taught about the records which they
have. These records include the brass plates and the words of the prophets
which have been spoken since Lehi left Jerusalem.
“And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon
the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a
descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was
sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might
preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine”
(1 Nephi 5:14).
“And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye could
not worship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I
say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and
ye ought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you
this, ye do not understand them” (Alma 33:2).
“As His disciples today, we should ask, ‘What lack I yet?’ You
can go about doing good, you can love and serve others in your family, in the
Church, and in the community. At some point you must be willing ‘to render to
him all that you have and are.’”[1]
“Benjamin is such a great example of consecration. He did
things with the ‘faculty of his whole soul’ (Words of Mormon 1:18). Such is the
very ‘heart, might, mind, and strength’ required in connection with keeping the
first great commandment (D&C 59:5; Matthew 22:37). No wonder consecrated
Benjamin urged us to be sufficiently consecrated to give all that we ‘have and
are’ (Mosiah 2:34). How appropriate that his sermon was given near a temple.
“However, absent consecration, we may be ‘honorable,’ but we
are not ‘valiant’ (D&C 76:75, 79). Honorable individuals are certainly not
wicked, nor are they necessarily unhappy; they are just unfulfilled! It is not
usually what is done but what is left undone that is amiss. In King Benjamin's
consecration, there was no holding back! It must become the same with us.
“The spirit of consecration pervades the lines of King
Benjamin's speech as he urges followers, for instance, ‘to render to [God] all
that you have and are’ (Mosiah 2:34), thus touching a raw and reminding nerve
in each of us insofar as we hold back some of ourselves.”[2]
They have also been taught the words of their fathers. They spake
what the Lord commanded. Their words are true and just. “And they sing the song
of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and
marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints” (Revelation 15:3).
[2] King Benjamin's Sermon: A Manual for Discipleship, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Maxwell Institute website.
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