I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me Mosiah 11-17 (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me Mosiah 7-10 click here). Save this pin to read later.
Who are your friends?
“For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.” Mosiah 11:5
King Noah shows us the classic example that wicked people don’t like to be around people that are good. Because if you’re around good people you feel a desire to be like them, and it either makes you more like them… Or it makes you feel guilty and mad. King Noah got rid of the good friends so his new ones would support him in his sin.
On my mission a member shared his conversion story, in a nutshell, he found himself interacting with members on base, off base, at the store, and every day basically. He asked us ” what are you stewing in?” He said he realized he was “stewing in Mormons” and he liked it. So he joined the church because his friends encouraged him to be better.
Who are your friends? What are you stewing in? And are you being a friend to those in need?
~Marlin K. Jensen
Prayer.
“Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.”
Mosiah 11:24
When I was a missionary I saw a sign at a Baptist church in Ellsworth Maine that read “You can live without Jesus, just don’t die without Him.” This is the same idea that wicked King Noah’s people had, live wickedly and when the ‘crap hits the fan’ just turn to God and offer up some deathbed repentance.
The problem is that sin has both temporal and eternal consequences. Whereas sincerer seeking of forgiveness will negate the eternal consequences, it often does NOT negate the temporal side effects of our choices including temporal destruction.
Howard W. Hunter
The Coming Storm.
“And it shall come to pass that I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine and with pestilence; and I will cause that they shall howl all the day long.” Mosiah 12:4
We often read this and think, oh well it’s because they’re wicked. And only the wicked are punished… Well if we remember how the story plays out the wicked did have this happen, but even Alma and the righteous experienced these same afflictions!
But there was a difference, what was the difference between from the wicked and the righteous? Duration, and how much the Lord strengthened them. We should learn from this that the coming storms of the last days will affect us, but if we are righteous the duration will be tolerable, and the Lord will strengthen us.
Listen to the words of warning from a Prophet of God: “Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion.”
~Ezra Taft Benson.
The Ten Commandments
“But now Abinadi said unto them: I know if ye keep the commandments of God ye shall be saved; yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of Sinai, saying:”
Mosiah 12:34
Almost universally the first commandment is broken as we worship false gods, these other gods can include possessions, power, or prominence. Often we sacrifice our time, energy and money, that we have covenanted to give to God, to these false gods. That is not even to mention the other 9!
If only these 10 commandments were followed the world issues and problems would all be resolved. But all too often we ignore these commandments and treat them as guidelines or suggestions.
Thomas S. Monson
The boldness of the Spirit.
“Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my message. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities.”
Mosiah 13:7
Within the Church, we are often very afraid to speak boldly. We fear someone will get offended, and leave the church if we preach against iniquity. When I lived in the South I taught a lot of Baptists with the missionaries. I learned to be bold and loving.
When I got home, in my YSA ward I got a nickname.”Baptist Jeremy” Because I was willing to be bold, to declare the truth as the Spirit directed. And I had a passion for the Gospel.
We must love those around us. For if you are bold without love, then you are brash. But when you love God and love those around you, that love requires you to be bold! You must stand against sin, and for truth like Abinadi in love of God.
The Sabbath Day.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Mosiah 13:16
When it comes to keeping the Sabbath Day holy I think this quote embodies everything about the topic: “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.”
Mark E. Petersen
Our Sins
“Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
Mosiah 14:4
Often when we sin Satan seeks to have us feel shame. He wants us to feel like we can not approach God. As if not approaching Him will make what we did less bad. But in reality, Christ already knows our sins, He has already carried them once, and if we but are willing to come to Him, He will carry them again!
The bands of death.
“And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—”
Mosiah 15:8
The crowning miracle of Jesus Christ was His atoning sacrifice culminating with the victory over death. Without the victory over death, life would suck and then you die. And death would bring us into eternal bondage.
Because of Jesus Christ, we know that death is not the end of lives symphony, but merely an intermission before the eternal sage of life continues.
Howard W. Hunter
The Time of Salvation has come!
“And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.”
Mosiah 15:28
This verse is being fulfilled before our very eyes. The growth of the church in Africa is a testimony that the Lord’s timetables are perfect. With that being said we have been admonished to pray that the Lord will soften the hearts of the leaders of the nations so that they will open the doors to missionaries.
Many doors are shut, and many are opening, let us remember to pray for the doors that are shut, and the missionaries arriving in the nations that doors just opened.
Light of the World.
“He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.”
Mosiah 16:9
Some ask why we do not have crucifixes in our homes, churches, or temples. The answer to that is simple, as Latter-day Saints, view Christ as a symbol of life and we view the cross as a symbol of death.
To us, Christ is a symbol of Light and life, so therefore we do not celebrate His death, but rather the resurrection, our focus is in following Christ and His modern prophets and apostles.
Mark E. Petersen
Standing for truth.
“2 But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace.
3 But the king was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him.”
Mosiah 17:2-3
Alma stood for the truth, and he almost died for standing against the King. But the Lord delivered him, and in the following chapters, we learn that he was delivered twice more.
So the question becomes. When evil rises, who will we be like? Will we conform and be as one of the wicked priests? Or will we be like Alma? Let us stand against evil no matter the cost. Let us be the “Alma” of those around us.