Mosiah 18-24

1. Mosiah 18-24 Mosiah 18:1Mosiah 17:4 It’s hard to remember if you don’t write it down! Mosiah 18:8-10 “Six promises made” 1. Desire to come into the fold of God, and to be called His people. 2. Willing to bear one another’s burdens. 3. Willing to mourn with those that mourn.

2. 4. Comfort those that stand in need of comfort. 5. Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things. 6. Serve Him and keep His commandments. Through baptism and rebirth we signify, according to Elder Dallin H. Oaks, our commitment to do all that we can do to achieve eternal life in the kingdom of our Father. We are expressing our candidacy --- our determination to strive --- for exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom.

3. “This declaration by Alma at the Waters of Mormon still stands as the most complete scriptural statement on record as to what the newly baptized commit to do and be” (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 106).

4. Further we take upon us Christ’s name as we publicly profess our belief in him, as we fulfill our obligations as members of His Church, and as we do the work of His kingdom. But there is something beyond these familiar meanings, because what we witness (in the sacrament prayers) is not that we take upon us His name but that we are willing to do so. In this sense, our witness relates to some future event or status whose attainment is not self-assured, but depends on the authority or initiative of the Savior Himself (“Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” 82-83).

5. That is, we have presently announced our righteous desires, and have entered into a covenant with God. We have announced our candidacy for exaltation, but have not yet received it. When the time comes that we have received the fullness of the Father, and have qualified for the highest of eternal rewards, we shall have the name of Christ sealed upon us forever. Four Blessings we receive: 1. Redeemed of God 2. Numbered with those of the First Resurrection 3. Have eternal life 4. Have His spirit more abundantly

6. Did Alma baptize himself? “If he had authority to baptize that is evidence that he had been baptized. Therefore, when Alma baptized himself with Helam that was not a case of Alma baptizing himself, but merely as a token to the Lord of his humility and full repentance” (Joseph Fielding Smith, A.T.G.Q. 3:204).

7. They were “buried in the water.” “The mode of baptism was by immersion in water. Sprinkling or pouring did not come into vogue until two or three centuries after Christ…. Baptism cannot be by any other means than immersion of the entire body in water… It is in the similitude of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and of all others who have received the resurrection” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:323). Did Alma have the authority to baptize? “Alma was baptized and held the priesthood before the coming of Abinadi” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:336-37).

8. Mosiah 18:13 Where did Alma get the priesthood? Alma may have received the priesthood before he was a priest of Noah. We’re not sure. He did however have the priesthood. Therefore he was already baptized (A.T.G.Q., vol. 3, 203).

9. Mosiah 18:23 “Observe the Sabbath Day, and Keep It Holy” “Because the Sabbath is a holy day, it should be reserved for worthy and holy activities….If we merely lounge about doing nothing on the Sabbath, we fail to keep the day holy” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 146).

10. Elder Mark E. Peterson taught that our observance of the Sabbath day reflects our appreciation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ: “We can readily see that observance of the Sabbath is an indication of the depth of our conversion.” “Our observance or nonobservance of the Sabbath is an unerring measure of our attitude toward the Lord personally and toward His suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. It is a sign of whether we are Christians in very deed, or whether our conversion is so shallow that commemoration of His atoning sacrifice means little or nothing to us” (C.R., Apr. 1975, 72).

11. Mosiah 18:30 “Mormon” Joseph taught that “Mormon” in reformed Egyptian meant “more good.” This is the first time it is mentioned in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 18:4-5).

12. Righteous Reflexes! Mosiah 19 “Righteous Reflexes” If you do the right thing for the right reason, enough times, it will become a reflex.

13. Mosiah 19:8,11,12 Some of the hottest corners of hell are reserved for those, who in a moment of crisis, remain neutral (Brigham Young). Revelation 3:15-16 What are the dangers of caring only for your own life? “As long as they have in their hearts selfishness and greed, and the desire for power and for wealth, and for all of the other things that belong to this world, and forget the things of the kingdom of God, there will be no peace, and there will be no contentment. There will be quarreling and contention, strife and war, and in the midst of all their labor, trouble will come which they could avoid” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrine of Salvation, 3:49-50).

14. Mosiah 19:11 and Mosiah 20:11 are quite a contrast! Mosiah 21:13-16 “A lesson of life” Because of _________ people either turn to the Lord in humility or choose to turn away from Him (D&C 58:2-4, 121 & 122). Mosiah 21:15 What happens when we become slow to hear the word of the Lord? Delay is not necessarily the Lord’s denial! When people are “slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; …the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble” (D&C 101:7).

15. Mosiah 21:15 “The Lord Did Hear Their Cries” The Prophet Joseph Smith described the Lord’s mercy in response to the sorrow the Prophet felt as a result of his mistakes: “I have called to mind all the past moments of my life, and am left to mourn and shed tears of sorrow for my folly in suffering the adversary of my soul to have so much power over me as he has had in times past. But God is merciful and has forgiven my sins, and I rejoice that he sendeth forth the Comforter unto as many as believe and humbleth themselves before him” (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, comp. Dean C. Jessee [1984], 238)

16. Mosiah 23:21 He tried their patience and their faith! Why does the Lord chasten his people? “I rejoice in afflictions, for they are necessary to humble and prove us, that we may comprehend ourselves, become acquainted with our weakness and infirmities, and I rejoice when I triumph over them, because God answers my prayers; therefore I feel to rejoice all the day long” (John Taylor, Gospel Kingdom, 234). Hebrews 12:6

17. Patience Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave the following insight about patience: “The necessity of our having this intriguing attribute is cited several times in the scriptures, including by King Benjamin, who clustered the attributes of a saint, and patience was a charter member of that cluster (Mosiah 3:19, Alma 7:23). “Patience is not indifference. Actually, it is caring very much, but being willing, nevertheless, to submit to the Lord and to what the scriptures call ‘the process of time.’ “Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best --- better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than his. Either way we are questioning the reality of God’s omniscience, as if, as some seem to believe, God were on some sort of postdoctoral fellowship…

18. “We read in Mosiah about how the Lord simultaneously tries the patience of his people even as he tries their faith (Mosiah 23:21). One is not only to endure ---- but to endure well and gracefully those things which the Lord ‘seeth fit to inflict upon (us)’ (Mosiah 3:19), just as did a group of ancient American Saints who were bearing unusual burdens but who submitted ‘cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord’ (Mosiah 24:15)… “The Lord has twice said: ‘And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life’ (D&C 101:38, Luke 21:19). Could it be that only when our self-control has become total do we come into true possession of our own souls?” (“Patience,” Ensign, Oct. 1980, 28).

19. Elder Orson F. Whitney taught that everything we experience teaches us valuable lessons: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God…and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 98).

20. Mosiah chapters 23-24 is a flashback within a flashback. This small flashback occupies approximately 20 years. When you finish reading these chapters, both Zeniff’s people and Alma’s people have returned to Zarahemla and King Mosiah.

21. Mosiah 24:14-15 Sometimes the Lord will ease our burdens rather than take them away. “The Lord loves us and pours out His Spirit upon us and blesses us with light and understanding, upholds, comforts and strengthens us, and enables us to bear our affliction with patience and fortitude” (George Q. Cannon, Collected Discourses, 2:176). I Nephi 17:2-3,12