Mosiah 4-8

1. Mosiah 4-8 Mosiah 4:1-30 Obtaining and retaining a remission of sin! Mosiah 4:2 Dust is obedient to the commands of the creator, whereas men rebel against His will (M.D. 210).

2. Mosiah 4:3 How do you know if you’ve been forgiven? By the way you feel! You will know! Having “a peace of conscience.” Don’t give up, that brilliant morning will come! Mosiah 4:5-7 Without God and the Atonement man is, in a very real sense, nothing. The realization of our dependence upon the Lord is called humility (M.D., 370).

3. “If the time comes when you have done all that you can to repent of your sins, whoever you are, wherever you are, and have made amends and restitution to the best of your ability; if it be something that will affect your standing in the Church and you have gone to the proper authorities, then you will want the confirming answer as to whether or not the Lord has accepted you. In your soul-searching, if you seek for and you find that peace of conscience, by that token you may know that the Lord has accepted of your repentance.

4. Satan would have you think otherwise and sometimes persuade you that now having made one mistake, you might go on and on with no turning back. That is one of the great falsehoods. The miracle of forgiveness is available to all of those who turn from their evil doings and return no more, because the Lord has said in a revelation to us in our days: ‘… go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth (meaning again) shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God’ (D&C 82:7). Have that in mind, all of you who may be troubled with a burden of sin” (Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places, 184-85).

5. “Somebody recently asked how one could know when he is forgiven?” The answer is simple. He may be assured of it when by the power of the Holy Spirit his soul is healed. When this occurs, he will recognize it by the way he feels, for he will feel as the people of Benjamin felt when they received remission of sins. The record says, ‘…the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience,…’ (Mosiah 4:3)” (Marion G. Romney, C.R., Oct. 1963, 25).

6. Mosiah 4:9-10 Summarizes exactly what we must do if we want the gift of the Holy Ghost as a part of our lives and as an integral part of our communication process. And now, if you believe these things see that ye do them! (Do it!, Joseph Smith, Pres. Kimball). Every doctrine has its associated duty,… every truth has its task. The gospel when the Master first proclaimed it, was not intended primarily for preaching --- it was intended for action…. No one can truly assimilate Christianity by impression alone, there must be expression as well (President Hugh B. Brown, Service, Relief Society Magazine, December 1969, 888).

7. Belief must be realized in personal achievement. Real Christians must understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a gospel of belief; it is a plan of action. His gospel is a gospel of imperatives, and the very nature of its substance is a call to action (Howard W. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1967, 115).

8. He did not say “observe” my gospel; he said “live” it! He did not say, “Note its beautiful structure and imagery”; he said, “Go, do, see, feel, give, believe!” The gospel of Jesus Christ is full of imperatives, words that call for personal commitment and action --- obligatory, binding, compulsory (Howard W. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1967, 115).

9. Mosiah 4:12 “Retain a Remission of Your Sins” Elder Neal A. Maxwell counseled us to frequently and regularly repent to retain a remission of sins: “Much emphasis was given by King Benjamin to retaining a remission of our sins. We do not ponder that concept very much in the church. We ought to think of it a lot more. Retention clearly depends on the regularity of our repentance. In the church we worry, and should, over the retention of new members, but the retention of our remissions is cause for even deeper concern” (“King Benjamin’s Sermon: A Manual for Discipleship,” in John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., King Benjamin’s Speech: “That Ye May Learn Wisdom” [1998], 16).

10. Mosiah 4:14 Joseph Smith stated, “A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race” (Teachings, 174). Mosiah 4:16-27 Welfare services is not a program, but the essence of the gospel. It is the gospel in action. It is the crowning principle of a Christian life (Ensign, Nov., 1977, Pres. Kimball, 77).

11. Order of the Church: 1. You 2. Family 3. Church

12. President Hinckley counseled us to look upon others with compassion: “Let us be more merciful. Let us get the arrogance out of our lives, the conceit, the egotism. Let us be more compassionate, gentler, filled with forbearance and patience and a greater measure of respect one for another. In so doing, our very example will cause others to be more merciful, and we shall have greater claim upon the mercy of God who in His love will be generous toward us. “I am confident that a time will come for each of us when, whether because of sickness or infirmity, of poverty or distress, of oppressive measures against us by man or nature, we shall wish for mercy. And if, through our lives, we have granted mercy to others, we shall obtain it for ourselves” (C.R., Apr. 1990, 89).

13. Mosiah 4:27 “Not Requisite That a Man Should Run Faster than He Has Strength” Elder Maxwell taught that when we run faster than we are able, we get both inefficient and tired. “I have on my office wall a wise and useful reminder by Anne Morrow Lindbergh concerning one of the realities of life. She wrote, ‘My life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds,’ That’s good counsel for us all, not as an excuse to forgo duty, but as a sage point about pace and the need for quality in relationships” (Deposition of a Disciple [1976], 58). Mosiah 4:30“Watch it!”

14. Mosiah 5-6 “A true Christian” or how we become one! If you were put on trial and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Mosiah 5:1-4 “A mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. Or, have you changed your heart? How do we get to the point that we have “no more disposition to do evil?” “The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin” (Joseph Smith, Teachings, 51).

15. “The word heart is used in the scriptures as the core of life and strength; hence it includes mind, spirit, and soul, and one’s entire emotional nature and understanding. One of the dictionary definitions states: ‘Heart is the center of the total personality with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion: the center of emotion, in contrast to the head as the center of the intellect.’ “In many statements it is regarded as the central source of one’s mental faculties or capacities. We read in Proverbs: ‘For as he (man) thinketh in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7). “It is also the seat of one’s affections, moral life, and character. In addition, heart is defined as having spirit, courage, and enthusiasm. Thus, when we love the Lord with all our heart and soul, we love him in spirit, with courage, enthusiasm, and profound earnestness of purpose” (Delbert L. Stapely in C.R., Oct., 1968, 27-28).

16. Mosiah 5:3 “Great Views” Joseph alludes to this when he taught that “We must have a change of heart to see the Kingdom of God” (Teachings, 328). Mosiah 5:7 “The importance of a Name” A number of years ago I was seriously ill. In fact, I think everyone gave up on me but my wife. With my family I went to St. George, Utah, to see if it would improve my health. We went as far as we could by train, and then continued the journey in a wagon, in the bottom of which a bed had been made for me.

17. “In St. George we arranged for a tent for my health and comfort, with a built-in floor raised about a foot above the ground, and we could roll up the south side of the tent to make the sunshine and fresh air available. I became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed. “One day, under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the other side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake or any other visible means to indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed to realize, that I had finished my work in mortality and had gone home. I began to look around, to see if I could not find someone. There was no evidence of anyone’s living there, just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake behind me.

18. “I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for sometime and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. In mortality he weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it. “When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. Then – and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget – he looked at me very earnestly and said: “’I would like to know what you have done with my name.’”

19. “Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen – everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said: “I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’ “He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. My pillow was wet as though water had been poured on it – wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed.

20. “I have thought of this many times, and I want to tell you that I have been trying, more than ever since that time, to take care of that name. So I want to say to the boys and girls, to the young men and women, to the youth of the Church and of all the world: Honor your fathers and your mothers. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to them (and to your Father in Heaven) what you have done with their name” (“Your Good Name,” Improvement Era, March, 1947, 139). Suppose you were allowed to have a dream in which you saw the Savior, and he asked, “What have you done with my name.” How would you be able to respond?

21. Mosiah 5:9-10, 12 What is the difference between the “right hand” and the “left hand of God?” “The right hand or side is called the dexter and the left the sinister. Dexter connotes something favorable; sinister, something unfavorable or unfortunate” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:158). (Matthew 25:41; Alma 5:58)

22. Mosiah 8:13 “Interpreters” “Joseph Smith received with the ‘breastplate’ and the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim, which were hid up by Moroni to come forth in the last days as a means by which the ancient record might be translated, which Urim and Thummim were given to the brother of Jared [D&C 17:1]” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols, [1957-66], 1:160-62).

23. Mosiah 8:15 “A Seer is Greater than a Prophet” The seeric gift is a supernatural endowment (Howard W. Hunter). Elder John A. Widtsoe described a seer as one who “perceives the meaning of that which seems obscure to others; therefore he is an interpreter and clarifier of eternal truth. In short, he is one who sees, who walks in the Lord’s light with open eyes” (Evidences and Reconciliations, arr. G. Homer Durham [1960], 258).

24. Mosiah 8:20 Who does “she” refer to? “The antecedent of she in this sentence is wisdom. Joseph Smith’s translation of this verse as ‘she should rule’ rather than ‘it should rule’ is in harmony with the Semitic world view. In Hebrew and other languages of that ancient Near East wisdom is a feminine noun” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 2:192).