Salvation of infants CHAP. III.] BOOK OF MOSIAH. 169 humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent; 19. For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, for ever and ever; but if he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man, and becometh a saint, through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. 20. And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come, when the knowledge of a Saviour shall spread throughout every nati›n, kindred, tongue, and people. 21. And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent; 22. And even at this time, when thou shalt have taught thy people the things which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, even then are they found no more blameless in the sight of God, only according to the words which I have spoken unto thee. 23. And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath commanded me. 24. And thus saith the Lord: They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil; 25. And if they be evil, they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord, into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls. 26. Therefore, they have drunk out of the cup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them, than it could deny that Adam should fall, because of his partaking of the forbidden fruit; therefore, mercy could have claim on them no more for ever. 27. And their torment is "as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up for ever and ever. Thus hath the Lord commanded me. Amen. o, see f, II. Nep. 2. P, see m. Jacob 6. q, see m, Jacob 6. r, see m, CHAPTER 4. 1. AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the "angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them; 2. And they had viewed themselves in their own carnaf state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying, O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ, that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. 3. And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words, 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, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them. 4. And king Benjamin again opened his mouth, and began to speak unto them, saying, My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you; 5. For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state; 6. I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long suffering towards the children of men, and also, the catonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life; I mean the life of the mortal body; 7. I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were ever since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world; 8. And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation, save this which hath c, see f, II. Nep. 2. a, Mos. 3: 2. b, see f, II. Nep. 2. d, ver. 7. Mos. 18: 13. Alma 12: 25, 30. 13: 3, 5, 7, 8. 18: 39. 22: 18. 42: 26.. Ether 3: 14. e, see f, 11. Nep. 2. Hela. 5: 47. III. Nep. 1: 14. 26: 5. been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved, except the conditions which I have told you. . 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 all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. 10. And again: Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them. 11. And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as 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 exceeding 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, which was spoken by the mouth of the fangel; 12. And behold, I say unto you, that 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. 13. 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. 14. 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, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers; he being an enemy to all righteousness; 15. 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; 16. And also, ye yourselves will succour those that stand in need of your succour ; 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. 17. Perhaps thou shalt say, the man has brought upon himself his misery, therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my f, see a. g, see q, Mos. 2. h, vers. 19, 20, 22-25. substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just. 18. But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this, the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done, he perisheth for ever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. 19. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have; for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? 20. And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped, that ye could not find utterance, so exceeding great was your joy. 21. And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependant for your lives, and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how had ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another? 22. And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for witholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done. 23. I say unto you, Wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich, as pertaining to the things of this world. 24. And again, I say unto the poor, Ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain 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 ye covet that which ye have not received. 26. And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you; that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God, I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, i, see h. j, see e, II. Nep. 32. 2:19. Mos. 18: 27-29. 21: 17. III. Nep. 12: 42. 13:1-4. IV. Nep. k, see h. 7, II. Nep. 26: 30. Jacob Alma 1: 27, 30. 4: 12, 13. 34: 28, 29. 1: 3. Mor. 8:37, 39. Moro. 7:6-8. visiting the sick, and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants; 27. And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again: It is expedient that he should 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 among you that "borroweth of his neighbour, should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin, and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbour to commit sin also. 29. And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many, that I cannot number them. 30. But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not. CHAPTER 5. 1. AND now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people, if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them. 2. And they all cried with one voice, saying, Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. 3. And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. 4. And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us, that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceeding great joy; 5. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a m, III. Nep. 12: 42. |