[MUSIC PLAYING]
In about 124 BC, King Benjamin gathers his people
to proclaim his son Mosiah as their new king.
He teaches the people that salvation
comes through Jesus Christ, and the people
covenant to follow Him.
Based on actual events as recorded in the Book of Mormon:
Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
[HORN BLOWING]
My people, I have not commanded you to come up
hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak,
but that ye should hearken unto me.
I have not commanded you to come up hither
that ye should fear me, or that ye
should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.
But I am like as yourselves, subject
to all manner of infirmities in body and mind;
yet I have been kept and preserved by God's matchless
power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which
the Lord hath granted unto me.
Mosiah, I don't understand.
Why must we work like this?
Helorum is right.
You're the king.
Should I tax the people so that we may
rest while others do this work?
No.
I myself labor with mine own hands
that I might serve my people.
I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom,
that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings--
--ye are only in the service of your God.
Also, if I, whom ye call your king, who
has spent his days in your service,
and yet has been in the service of God,
do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought
to thank your heavenly King!
If ye should serve Him who has created you from the beginning,
and is preserving you from day to day,
by lending you breath--I say, if ye should serve Him with all
your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
All that He requires of you is to keep His commandments;
and He has promised you that ye should prosper in the land.
I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together,
that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be
your teacher, nor your king.
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
But the Lord God has commanded me
that I should declare unto you this day,
that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you.
Were it not for these plates, which
contain these records and these commandments,
we must have suffered in ignorance, even
at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.
The Lord commanded our father Lehi
to take them with him into the wilderness.
This is the sword of Laban, which
Nephi used to fulfill the Lord's commandments.
With this sword I did stand against the armies
of the Lamanites.
As ye have kept my commandments, if ye shall
keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God
which shall be delivered unto you by him,
your enemies shall have no power over you.
But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions
among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit.
For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who
listeth to obey that spirit.
I would desire that ye should consider
on the blessed and happy state of those that
keep the commandments of God.
For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal
and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end
they are received into heaven, that thereby they
may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.
O remember, remember that these things are true;
for the Lord God hath spoken it.
And again, my people--
I have somewhat more to speak unto you;
for behold, I have things to tell you concerning
that which is to come.
And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me
by an angel from God.
And he said unto me--
Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee.
For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant,
that the Lord Omnipotent shall come down from heaven
among the children of men, and shall
dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth
amongst men, working mighty miracles,
such as healing the sick, raising the dead,
causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight,
and the deaf to hear.
And lo, He shall suffer temptations, and pain of body,
even more than men can suffer, except it be unto death;
for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great
shall be His anguish for the wickedness
and the abominations of His people.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder."
"And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
My sons, I would that ye should remember
that these sayings are true, and also
that these records are true.
And He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things
from the beginning; and His mother shall be called Mary.
He cometh unto His own, that salvation
might come unto the children of men
even through faith on His name; and even after all this
they shall consider Him a man, and say that He hath a devil,
and shall scourge Him, and shall crucify Him.
Whosoever should believe that Christ
should come, the same might receive remission
of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy,
even as though He had already come among them.
And there shall be no other name given
nor any other way nor means whereby salvation
can come unto the children of men, only
in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
For the natural man is an enemy to God,
and has been from the fall of Adam,
and will be, forever and ever, unless 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.
And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God
hath commanded me.
And 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.
Thus hath the Lord commanded me.
Amen.
Our Father in Heaven--
O God, we kneel before Thee, confess--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
We ask Thee for forgiveness of our sins.
For we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Forgive us of our sins and accept our offering.
And apply the atoning blood of Christ.
We desire to enter Thy covenant.
That we may receive forgiveness of our sins.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people,
believe in God; believe that He is,
and that He created all things, both in heaven and in earth;
believe that ye must repent of your sins,
and humble yourselves before God.
And if ye do this ye shall always
rejoice, and be filled with the love of God.
And you will not have mind to injure one another,
but to live peaceably.
And ye will teach your children to not fight and quarrel one
with another, and to walk in the ways of truth,
and to love one another, and to serve one another.
Impart of your substance to the poor.
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 finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may
commit sin.
But 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.
Amen.
Send among my people.
I desire to know if they believe the words which
I have spoken unto them.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
We do rejoice.
We accept our covenant.
We shall obey His commandments.
[INAUDIBLE]
We believe, O King.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
We believe all the words which thou hast spoken.
We know the truth.
We'll be obedient to His commandments.
Because of the covenant which ye have made
ye shall be called the children of Christ,
His sons, and His daughters; for behold, this day
He hath spiritually begotten you;
for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith
on His name; therefore, ye are born of Him
and have become His sons and His daughters.
Therefore, I would that ye should take upon you
the name of Christ.
Remember to retain the name written always in your hearts,
that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called,
and also, the name by which He shall call you.
For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served,
and who is a stranger unto him, and is far
from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
Therefore, I would that ye should
be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works,
that Christ may seal you His.
[MUSIC PLAYING]