Come Follow Me (Mosiah 4-6)
Conversion is a miracle - the biggest, really.
I mean, think about it. The Red Sea? It had no choice but to obey its Creator when told to step aside. Leprous cells, sightless eyes, even the demons who hate and defy the God of the universe must do exactly what He says: Heal. See. Depart.
Not so much His kids.
We children of the God of this universe have been given the rare gift of choice, and He is the ultimate gentleman; He never forces. Ever. He invites, and He waits. OH HOW HE WAITS.
So when someone is completely converted to Him - His laws, His plan - and freely chooses to enter a covenant relationship with Him - such a big deal.
This is why I love the story of King Benjamin so much. I will never get over the greater miracle still of the entire congregation being converted to Jesus Christ's redeeming message all at the same time.
But that's not where the miracle stops. You have an incredible surge of spiritual insight -
the idea that, partnered with Jesus Christ you can become more. You desire it so much that the very desire to go against it seems to have left you completely. Resolve is strengthened, commitments are made - covenants. And then what?
Because let's face it - staying on the holy mountaintops of these kinds of experiences simply can't last forever. Mortality gets the best of us again, it's time to strive yet again with our fellow man - all of us equally flawed and challenging. How can you know that first spiritual fire really happened? How can you trust the cleansing power of it is still in force? How do you retain it?
In the middle of this watershed sermon to the Nephites, King Benjamin explains to his people how they can always feel this way - what it takes to retain a remission of sins. That's what chapter 4 is about:
"...if 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,..." (Mosiah 4:11)
Some of this language triggers those who don't fully understand. Too many believe this language is too strong, unkind, and I've even heard it called spiritually manipulative and abusive to call humans unworthy creatures and emphasize their need to humble themselves in the depths of humility.
"Bow your head, don't be bold..." Yeah. We don't teach that, though far too many believe we do. More's the pity.
But look what had just happened to this group of people. They had tasted not just the goodness of God; they had experienced something of His glory. So they knew they were nothing - compared to Him. They knew they were nothing - without Him.
The Nephites experienced something akin to what Moses experienced - without actually entering into the actual glorified presence of God - an experience which caused Moses to reach the same conclusion:
"Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." (Moses 1:10)
King Benjamin urged his people to call on God daily because of their new-found recognition of their complete dependence on this superior Being - who loved them because He is their Father.
He further instructed the Nephites to recognize when it was working by giving them a checklist of how they knew they still had those strong desires to follow the Lord - that their cleanliness status was still in force before God.
"...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." (Mosiah 4:12)
Good markers: feelings of joy and love and growth in knowledge - of the nature of God, and of truth.
He continues:
"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 4:13)
Notice how verse 12 focuses on first deepening our ability to keep the first great commandment to love God, and verse 13 moves seamlessly into keeping the second commandment to love our brothers and sisters. This is a natural extension of the first commandment - when we put the first commandment first, and don't confuse the order.
From that inner circle which includes just ourselves and our Creator, King Benjamin widens the circle to our families:
"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...
"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." (Mosiah 4:14-15)
And finally, one more circle out:
"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." (Mosiah 4:16)
These six verses serve as a powerful guide and checklist which we can use to evaluate our conversion. After the miracle - how do you maintain those overwhelming feelings of love, peace, joy, and gratitude?
Grow in the knowledge of our Creator, which will lead us to honor the first and second commandments.
See to your families - take care of and teach your children.
Share your excess with those in need. And parenthetically - verses 17-25 are in fact a parentheses of how to give appropriately with the right heart.
What a wise prophet leader! Teach with such power that the entire congregation is converted. Identify what has just happened to them, and the Source of their feelings of humility, gratitude, and joy. Instruct them as to how to never lose this feeling, but only have it grow over the course of their lifetimes.
This is a fantastic chapter to liken to ourselves.
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