Mosiah 3

(All of my own thoughts are in red type.5/20Green 3/21 Orange 6/22 Brown 2023)

Chapter 3

King Benjamin continues his address—The Lord Omnipotent will minister among men in a tabernacle of clay—Blood will come from every pore as He atones for the sins of the world—His is the only name whereby salvation comes—Men can put off the natural man and become Saints through the Atonement—The torment of the wicked will be as a lake of fire and brimstone. About 124 B.C.

  1 And again my brethren, I would call your attention, for I have somewhat more to speak unto you; for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come. Love this openess and prophecy about the future. 
  2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known me by an ^aangel from God. I love it when the prophets openly say what words are given to them by the Lord or angels. I wish that happened in our day... And he said unto me: ^bAwake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me. There is no mistaking what he is told is from God. He is to be a literal witness to the people. Was he sleeping? Sounds like a literal visitation, not a vision while sleeping.  
  3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the ^aglad tidings of great ^bjoy. This is what the angels said when Christ was born!
  4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy ^arighteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy. Is this King Benjamin's "born again" moment?  Being filled with praise and rejoicing is part of the "heavenly gift". Is that why he can then offer this promise to his people that they too can be filled with joy when they receive this heavenly gift? 
  5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, his definition of "not far distant" is 124 years that with power, the ^aLord ^bOmnipotent who ^creigneth, who was, and is from all ^deternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a ^etabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty ^fmiracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the ^gblind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. Oh how we need these gifts in our day! Where are the disciples of Christ that he promised would do the same and greater than He did? 
  6 And he shall cast out ^adevils, or the ^bevil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. This is an often overlooked teaching. There are devils and there are evil spirits. In the New Testament, Jesus calls them evils spirits and unclean spirits. One are the third part cast out to the earth with Satan who never had bodies. The other are those who die in their sins who did have bodies. Notice they can “dwell” in our hearts and that they need to be “cast out”. We need this teaching “restored”.  
  7 And lo, he shall ^asuffer ^btemptations, and pain of body, ^chunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can ^dsuffer, except it be unto death; for behold, ^eblood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his ^fanguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. He makes it sound like Christ bleeds due to his anguish. This supports the idea that our emotions have a direct impact on our physical bodies. (Read: "Healing Begins with Sanctification of the Heart" by Dr. MK Strydom) Also pondering the Atonement from the view that Christ suffered as the victim of our sins, taking them upon Himself so that he could claim the right to offer forgiveness to us if we repent. Then if we do, we do not have to suffer the literal effects of our sins (though we may be given full witness to the suffering of others...) This is different than the view that the Atonement was about paying the penalty for sin (whatever that really is...) I mean, is there any punishment that would fully satisfy a victim short of the perpetrator literally experiencing the same thing? 
  8 And he shall be called ^aJesus ^bChrist, the ^cSon of God, the ^dFather of heaven and earth, the ^eCreator of all things from the beginning; and his ^fmother shall be called Mary. I think this means Jesus is the creator of OUR heaven and earth and all things known to US from the beginning. We know things existed or were created before Christ was “begotten” of the Father, right?
  9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, What does this mean? Who are "his own"? Does this mean the Jews; some pre-existent category; anyone who has faith in Him? that ^asalvation might come unto the children of men even through ^bfaith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a ^cdevil, and shall ^dscourge him, and shall ^ecrucify him. This is to help us when we are unjustly persecuted or even killed. Jesus suffered that as well. I thinks it so odd that those possessed by the devil accused Jesus of being possessed by the devil. They think it’s a bad thing to be possessed but don’t even recognize it in themselves. Salvation comes when we are born again. That comes through faith on his name.
 10 And he shall ^arise the ^bthird day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to ^cjudge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.
 11 For behold, and also his ^ablood ^batoneth for the sins of those who have ^cfallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the ^dwill of God concerning them, or who have ^eignorantly sinned. Many people will experience this earth life without a knowledge of God. Why? Did they only need to come here to get a body? Why was their test not to see if they would choose God, like He told Enoch? Was it something they did in the pre earth life? Is this a reward? A punishment? An advantage or lack of one? Are they still accountable for what they did with the "light of Christ"?
 12 But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he ^arebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the ^bLord Jesus Christ. The rest of us fall in to this category. We know about God and we sin every day. Sin is rebellion, whether it’s from lack of discipline, or laziness, or weakness. We receive salvation only through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must take our weakness (natural man) to Christ and only He can make us strong and pure and grant us salvation. We know we've received salvation when we are born again. 
 13 And the Lord God hath sent his holy ^aprophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive ^bremission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even ^cas though he had already come among them. Two thoughts. He just taught that there are those who die without knowing God and ignorantly sin. But here he said prophets are sent to all mankind. How is it both? Second, they were taught to live as though Jesus had already atoned for their sins and had been resurrected. We should live as though Zion were already established and the Lord had already returned. Hear Him now. I think maybe the "prophets" are all those who've received a knowledge of God through the Baptism by Fire. They are then charged to witness to others and receive the gift of prophecy. They declare that all who truly believe in Christ can receive the remission of their sins, as they have and that when they do, they will be filled with this "exceeding great joy". I read one definition of The Spirit of Prophecy to mean that all prophecy ultimately testifies of Christ. That the "spirit" or "purpose" of prophecy is to witness of Christ. Makes sense...not sure if that is what it really is, though...
 14 Yet the Lord God saw that his people the Israelites were a ^astiffnecked people, and he appointed unto them a ^blaw, even the ^claw of Moses.  “His” people back then were “stiff-necked”. Are His people today the same? Are we relying on "the law" and our outward performances to save us? 
 15 And many signs, and wonders, and ^atypes, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; and also holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; and yet they ^bhardened their hearts, and understood not that the ^claw of Moses availeth nothing ^dexcept it were through the ^eatonement of his blood. The "law" is of no worth unless it leads us to Christ and a remission of sins and a mighty change.
 16 And even if it were possible that little ^achildren could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are ^bblessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ ^catoneth for their sins.
 17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be ^ano other name given nor any other way nor means whereby ^bsalvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the ^cLord Omnipotent.
 18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink ^adamnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and ^bbecome as little children, and believe that ^csalvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the ^datoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
 19 For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the ^fHoly Spirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, 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.  A Deseret News article actually used the language that we all need to “submit” to this vaccine. Nope. Only submitting to the Lord. Perhaps we "become" a saint after the mighty change. Before that day, we must be as a child - submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, until that blessed day comes.
 20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the ^aknowledge of a ^bSavior shall spread throughout ^cevery nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
 21 And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found ^ablameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent. When is that “time”? How does this knowledge come? Is it through the testimony of the "end-time servant"? Does he do miraculous things that the media shares with all the world? How is it that no one misses this witness? The footnote goes to Mosiah 16 which has a footnote that goes to the "every knee shall bow - end- of -the world" timeframe. But this suggests a time for repentance, so what if it is before that? Wouldn't the end-time judgments warrant and open rebellion against light received? That is so lacking right now in the world...too much veiled in darkness and false traditions. 
 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. see...they don’t have to pray to receive revelation to know if what was said was from God. He straight up told them. Jealous...
 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 ^aworks, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.
 25 And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful ^aview of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of ^bmisery and ^cendless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls. No matter how much one is in denial about Satan and evil and their own bad choices, there will come a day when they will truly "see". What is this "awful view" of our own guilt? Are we allowed to see/feel what our victims felt? and the Savior? 
 26 Therefore, they have drunk out of the ^acup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them than it could deny that ^bAdam should fall because of his partaking of the forbidden ^cfruit; therefore, ^dmercy could have claim on them no more forever.
 27 And their ^atorment is as a ^blake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up ^cforever and ever. Thus hath the Lord commanded me. Amen. Remember that all the people in the scriptures who experienced this “hell” came out of it with a determination to preach repentance to even their worst enemies...that’s how hard this is to endure. Repentance is the most loving word you could ever speak to anyone. Don’t shun it. Embrace it with love and gratitude. There is a saying popular now condemning the preaching of "scary" things and they call it "fear porn". But I see many examples in the scriptures where they feel a duty to make it clear what the consequences of sin are. If that helps you stay on the right path until you have a better motivation...so be it. At least you are not ignorant of the consequences of sin!