Bondage and Deliverance

1. Bondage and Deliverance www.kevinhinckley.com

2. Awe, signs of Spring!

4. Stories in the Book of Mormon Two Questions to always ask: 1- Why did Mormon include this story? 2- Is this person/people an example or a warning?

5. Limhi And now, it came to pass that…king Mosiah … was desirous to know concerning the people who went up to dwell in the land of Lehi-Nephi… And Ammon took three of his brethren, … And behold, they met the king of the people … and they were surrounded by the king's guard, and were taken, and were bound, and were committed to prison. And he said unto them: Behold, I am Limhi, the son of Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, who came up out of the land of Zarahemla to inherit this land, which was the land of their fathers, who was made a king by the voice of the people. And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak… he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness; And now, it came to pass that after Limhi had heard the words of Ammon, he was exceedingly glad, and said: Now, I know of a surety that my brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla are yet alive. And now, I will rejoice; and on the morrow I will cause that my people shall rejoice also. For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, … And now, behold, our brethren will deliver us out of our bondage… and we will be their slaves; … OK, so this is a bondage and deliverance story! What do we know about other bondage and deliverance stories in the scriptures?

6. First, why are they in bondage? And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, … Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we have to mourn… and all because of iniquity. For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves. And a prophet of the Lord have they slain; yea, a chosen man of God, who told them of their wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things which are to come, yea, even the coming of Christ. 1- Over-zealous 2- Deceived 3- Transgressions 4- Contentions 5- Slay the Prophets (Fight against God)

7. How do we get out of “bondage”? And the king said unto him: Being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that forty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla, that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage. (Admit we can’t do it on our own!) And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, … having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind… And … they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings… Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters… And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer. And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God. And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet. And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have… So, we need a see-er to help us out of our bondage!

8. What do we see?

12. Yale University Crest

13. Joseph F. Smith1888 I can remember the time when I was quite a little boy, when we were hurried very unceremoniously across the river Mississippi from the city of Nauvoo just previous to the bombardment of the town by the mob. I had a great anxiety then—that is for a child—to know where on earth we were going to. I knew we had left home. We had left it willingly—because we were obliged to—we left it in a hurry, and we were not far away when we heard the cannonade on the other side of the river; but I felt just as certain in my mind then—as certain as a child could feel—that all was right, that the Lord's hand was in it, as I do to-day… When we came out here (to Utah) we came out from the midst of bondage and very much oppression and tyranny. Some of the brethren were talking to us yesterday about bondage; and it is said in the revelation that "ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched out arm." Now, the Lord also promised that He would raise up a man that should lead the people out of bondage; and, further, He promised that when He should raise up that man His angels should go before them and also His presence, not as it was in the days of the children of Israel in the wilderness, when His angel went up before them, but not His presence; but in the last days the Spirit of God and the angels shall go before the people and shall follow after them.

14. Elder Theodor M. Burton …one can trust a seer because a seer may see the heavens open. He may see the great vision of God working in all his majesty. He may see the fulness of truth as it is revealed to him by God who makes no mistakes. The evidence is clear, therefore, and the interpretation is clear. The seer can bear personal testimony, not based on books, not based on scholarship, not based on tradition, but based on the evidence of things that God himself can reveal to him in an actual experience with Deity. He may receive a revelation from God by actually seeing and hearing and being instructed in the real truth. Conference report, 1961

15. Elder Holland I was recently in Vavau, Tonga. It is a little island which is one and a half hours away from Nuku'alofa by plane and twenty-four hours away by boat. By boat it is the worst trip that can be made.. When the area conference was announced for Tonga, it was determined that only one boat would be available for the Saints from Vavau. The boat held 150 people. If you stuffed bodies into every possible corner of the ship, you could get close to three hundred people. Eight hundred Tongans jammed onto that boat and stood up for twenty-four hours without sleep, without food, without drink, without anything--because they knew that a prophet of God was going to be in their islands and they were not going to miss him for anything in the world. Do you want to go to conference that badly? Do you care that the prophet of the Lord is speaking in the neighborhood? Do you care enough to flip on a television set, a radio, or to come to this building to watch a priesthood meeting? Eight hundred people stood up for twenty-four hours to get to conference, and they didn't think anything about it. "The President of the Church is here," they said. "That's our prophet, and we may not see him again soon." And they came. Remembered and Nourished by the Good Word of God, September 26, 1976