Benjamin’S People Enter into Covenant

Event 48

Reference: Mosiah 4:1-30; 5:1-15; 6:1-2

AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin hadmade an end of speaking the words which had beendelivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast hiseyes round about on the multitude, and behold they hadfallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come uponthem. 2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnalstate, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all criedaloud with one voice, saying:MormonTemple in land ofZarahemla124 B.C.O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we mayreceive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; forwe believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heavenand earth, and all things; who shall come down among the childrenof men.People3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these wordsthe Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filledwith joy, having received a remission of their sins, andhaving peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faithwhich they had in Jesus Christ who should come, accordingto the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them. 4And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began tospeak unto them, saying:MormonMy friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I wouldagain call your attention, that ye may hear and understand theremainder of my words which I shall speak unto you. 5 Forbehold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time hasawakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthlessand fallen state— 6 I say unto you, if ye have come to aknowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, andhis wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards thechildren of men; and also, the atonement which has been preparedfrom the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation mightcome to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should bediligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faitheven unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body— 7I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through theatonement which was prepared from the foundation of the worldfor all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or whoare, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. 8 Andthis is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is noneother salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither arethere any conditions whereby man can be saved except theconditions which I have told you.King Benjamin 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 allpower, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth notcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. 10And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsakethem, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity ofheart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all thesethings see that ye do them. 11 And again I say unto you as I havesaid before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory ofGod, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of hislove, and have received a remission of your sins, which causethsuch exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that yeshould remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatnessof God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselveseven in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lorddaily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come,which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.King BenjaminTemple in land ofZarahemla124 B.C.12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall alwaysrejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain aremission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of theglory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which isjust 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 thatwhich is his due. 14 And ye will not suffer your children that theygo hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress thelaws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve thedevil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hathbeen spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to allrighteousness. 15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways oftruth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and toserve one another. 16 And also, ye yourselves will succor thosethat stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of yoursubstance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not sufferthat the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn himout to perish. 17 Perhaps thou shalt say:The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I willstay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, norimpart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for hispunishments are just—18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hathgreat cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which hehath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdomof God. 19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not alldepend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substancewhich we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and forsilver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? 20 Andbehold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, andbegging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that yehave begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and hascaused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not findutterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.King BenjaminTemple in land ofZarahemla124 B.C.21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you aredependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, dothgrant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believingthat ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of thesubstance that ye have one to another. 22 And if ye judge the manwho putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perishnot, and condemn him, how much more just will be yourcondemnation for withholding your substance, which doth notbelong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; andyet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hastdone. 23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substanceshall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those whoare rich as pertaining to the things of this world. 24 And again, Isay unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that yeremain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar,because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that:I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless,otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for yecovet that which ye have not received. 26 And now, for the sake ofthese things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake ofretaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye maywalk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of yoursubstance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath,such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sickand administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally,according to their wants. 27 And see that all these things are donein wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should runfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that heshould be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore,all things must be done in order.28 And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever amongyou borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that heborroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commitsin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also.29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye maycommit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so manythat I cannot number them. 30 But this much I can tell you, that ifye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words,and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, andcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the comingof our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. Andnow, O man, remember, and perish not.1 AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin hadthus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring toMormon know of his people if they believed the words which he hadspoken unto them. 2 And they all cried with one voice,saying:MormonTemple in land ofZarahemla124 B.C.Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; andalso, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of theLord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or inour hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to dogood continually. 3 And we, ourselves, also, through the infinitegoodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have greatviews of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we couldprophesy of all things. 4 And it is the faith which we have had onthe things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought usto this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with suchexceedingly great joy. 5 And we are willing to enter into acovenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to hiscommandments in all things that he shall command us, all theremainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves anever-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that wemay not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.People6 And now, these are the words which king Benjamindesired of them; and therefore he said unto them:MormonYe have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant whichye have made is a righteous covenant. 7 And now, because of thecovenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children ofChrist, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hathspiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changedthrough faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and havebecome his sons and his daughters. 8 And under this head ye aremade free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be madefree. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh;therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name ofChrist, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that yeshould be obedient unto the end of your lives. 9 And it shall cometo pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right handof God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for heshall be called by the name of Christ.King Benjamin10 And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not takeupon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name;therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God. 11 And Iwould that ye should remember also, that this is the name that Isaid I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, exceptit be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do nottransgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. 12 I sayunto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the namewritten always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the lefthand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which yeshall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you. 13For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, andwho is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart? 14 And again, doth a man take an ass whichbelongeth to his neighbor, and keep him? I say unto you, Nay; hewill not even suffer that he shall feed among his flocks, but willdrive him away, and cast him out. I say unto you, that even so shallit be among you if ye know not the name by which ye are called.15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable,always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord GodOmnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven,that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through thewisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created allthings, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.King BenjaminTemple in land ofZarahemla124 B.C.1 AND now, king Benjamin thought it was expedient, afterhaving finished speaking to the people, that he should takethe names of all those who had entered into a covenant withGod to keep his commandments.Mormon2 And it came to pass that there was not one soul, except itwere little children, but who had entered into the covenantand had taken upon them the name of Christ.