Judge Not

Mosiah 4:22 And if ye ^ajudge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, 

King Benjamin tells us in verse 22 that if we look at the beggar and judge him and condemn him, we will be in big trouble.  We're setting ourselves up as judges, but we only look on the outward appearance.  We can't see another's heart.  We don't know what brought him to this point.  Does he have health problems which prevent him from working?  Does he battle depression?  Sometimes a series of disasters in someone's life have brought him to this.  We can't know.  We can't judge.  It isn't our place to judge.  And Benjamin tells that if we withhold our substance, it isn't ours at all, but His who gave it to us. 

This also brings us back to the basic premise which Benjamin taught us earlier that if we are truly converted and have true charity, or the pure love of Christ, we will have no desire to judge.  We will see the beggar as Christ sees him and love him and have compassion for him and desire all that is best for him.

King Benjamin Teaches Us How to Treat Beggars.

It's such a joy to study King Benjamin's mighty speech.  In chapter 4, verses 16-25 he talks about our treatment of those less fortunate than ourselves, specifically beggars.  Remember that this is assuming we have been truly converted to Christ and have obtained a remission for our sins.  Now we see people differently than we did as a "natural man".  Now we have love and charity and see those around us as fellow children of God.

Benjamin spends a good deal of his time trying to teach us how to deal with beggars.  He makes the following points:  (I know, I'm sorry that I always feel the need to summarize things, to create an outline.  It helps me see more clearly.)

• We need to succor those who are in need.
• We have no right to judge their condition and if we do we are called to repentance, and except we repent, we will lose our eternal reward.
• We are all beggars, because we must beg our God for everything we have.
• We also beg Him to forgive us for our sins.
• He is generous with us and forgives us and blesses us with an abundance of the Spirit.
• If God blesses us even though we haven't earned the blessings, we ought to bless others of His children.
• If we judge others and condemn them, our condemnation from God will be great and our substance will perish with us.
• Those poor who do not give to the beggar but would if they could, are not condemned; but if they withhold out of greed, they are coveting that which they do not have and are condemned.

I found this quote from President Joseph F. Smith:
"I have seen men go away from my door with good bread and butter in their hands (good enough for any king to eat, for my folks make good bread and good butter, as good as I ever ate on earth) and when out of the gate they have thrown it into the street. It was not food they wanted. They wanted money. For what? That they might go to some gambling [hall] or to some drinking saloon. Of course they are responsible for that. We can only judge by appearances and by the promptings of the good spirit within us; and it is better to give to a dozen that are unworthy than to turn away empty one worthy person." (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, Pr/RS Manual, p. 194)

As I approached Walmart the other day, I saw someone at the parking lot entrance/exit standing in the cold, holding up a sign.  A beggar.  My first thought was my usual one:  Oh no, I guess I'll use the other exit.  But on the way out, I forgot and found myself at the stop sign by the beggar.  King Benjamin's words came into my mind, so I found some money in my wallet and gave it to the woman.  Her sign said that her family was in need.  I don't know what she did with the money, whether she bought drugs for herself or food for her family, but obviously it's not my place to judge.  And I felt the Spirit telling me that I had done the right thing.

The Cart Before the Horse

King Benjamin has given some instructions in Mosiah 4:9-11; a key to retaining the repentance and forgiveness and testimony they had just received, which testimony had caused them to fall to the earth in humility.

So in verses 9 through 11, he gives a list of things that they can do to keep this testimony bright.  Following these guidelines, he gives them a list of blessings that will follow, since blessings always follow obedience.  These blessings are great and wondrous, but often we mistake these for commandments themselves.  Actually, they are the natural consequences of being guided by the Spirit, of being humble, of trying to emulate the Savior.

I'm going to try to give a very capsulized list of the guidelines and then the blessings that follow obedience to those guidelines.

Guidelines: 

1. Believe in God.  Know about Him.  Learn His true nature.  Know Him.
2. Repent of your sins, forsake them, ask in humility to be forgiven for them.
3. Do it.
4. Call upon God continually in humility.
5. Be faithful.

Blessings:

1. Rejoice
2. Be filled with the love of God
3. Retain a remission of your sins
4. Grow in the knowledge of the glory of God
5. Have love and respect for your fellow man
6. Be guided in parenting your children
7. Bless and serve those around you.

 If we get the cart before the horse, we might think that we can be good parents (this is the one most often quoted as a commandment rather than a blessing) just by trying harder.  We view Benjamin's words as instructions rather than a logical consequence of being a disciple of Christ.

As a natural man (or natural woman), I can try to overcome those tendencies and try to be a good parent.  I can search out experts and follow lists of advice on how to raise good children.  But worldly advice may vary or change with the times, and children are all different.

But if I am truly converted and am led by the Spirit and am trying to be more Christlike in all I do, my motivation and my instructions will come from the Spirit.  The Lord knows what each child needs and will inspire me in how to meet that child's needs, because they are all His children first.

The same principle applies for all of the other blessings that Benjamin lists.  We have love for our fellow men because we first love Christ.  We help the beggar because the love of God fills our hearts.  This is what Benjamin was telling us.  If we get it backwards, we struggle.  It's still possible to be a good parent and an upright, honest and caring person, but it's much harder!

See That Ye Do Them

" . . . and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them."   (Mosiah 4:10)

How often do we say,  "I know I shouldn't do this, but . . ."  or "I know I should (something), but . . ."

We know we should eat better; we know we should help our neighbor; we know we shouldn't drive too fast; we know we shouldn't spend so much time on Facebook.

It's unfortunate when we make mistakes when we don't know any better.  But most of the time we know what we should be doing and what we should avoid doing, and we consciously decide to go against a prompting and do it anyway.

I once saw a quote that says, "If we know what we know, then why do we do what we do?"

Good question.

O Have Mercy

(Mosiah 4:2)  The words of King Benjamin touched the hearts of his people so much that the fear of the Lord fell upon them and they fell to the earth.  They did as we are loathe to do and viewed themselves in their fallen state; looked at their sins and shortcomings and saw that they were totally indebted to their Father in Heaven for all that they had.  That they were unprofitable servants, as we all are.  That's an uncomfortable feeling.  So they pleaded with the Lord:  "O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ. . ."  They didn't ask for justice, because they knew they would be found wanting.  They didn't deserve the blessings they were asking for.  They begged for "the atoning blood of Christ", asking that the Lord give it not because they deserved it, but because He is a merciful God.

Only through the atoning blood of Christ could they receive the next blessings they asked for.  They wanted forgiveness for their sins.  When they saw themselves as they really were, with all their faults and sins, they begged to be forgiven.  They knew that the Lord can't look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.  And they surely didn't like what they saw looking at themselves.  So they asked not only that they be forgiven of their sins, but that their hearts be changed so that they wouldn't continue to sin.  They asked their hearts not only be changed, but purified.  They later said, ". . . we know . . . 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."

They had certain faith that this repentance and cleansing and purifying was not only possible, that not only COULD the Lord bless them with this, but that He WOULD grant them this blessing.  They knew this because they had received a testimony of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had not yet come to earth.  They now had a deep faith that the Savior was the key to giving them the forgiveness and change of heart they so desired.

And their faith was justified.  Look at verse 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.

Because of their exceeding faith on Christ, they were blessed with the Spirit of the Lord, they were filled with joy (which is a by-product of the Spirit) and they received a remission of their sins, which gave them a peace of conscience. 

We should follow their example.  I should follow their example.

You Ought to Thank Your Heavenly King!

Mosiah 2:19-25
Benjamin tells us how much we owe to our Heavenly Father and how much we ought to give thanks to Him.

Here are some of the things He does for us:

1. He created us.
2. He keeps and preserves us.
3. He causes that we should rejoice.
4. Allows us to live in peace with one another.
5. Preserves us from day to day.
6. Lends us breath.
7. Allows us to move and do according to our own will
8. Supports us from one moment to another.

 I especially love the mental image of the Lord lending us breath and supporting us from one moment to another.  I feel myself with His arms supporting mine, holding me up, helping me move around.


When my arthritis was at its worst, my bad knee ached almost all of the time, and moving it at all was hugely painful.  I remember once going to the temple and pushing that sore knee to get me to the front door of the temple, only to recall that my temple bag (or was it my wallet with the recommend) was still in the car.  So I had to limp back down to the car and back up again.  I remember thinking, "Well, Satan, if you thought you could get me to give up and go back home rather than turn around and go back into the temple, you were wrong!"  But I could feel the Lord supporting me then, helping me walk back up to the temple and through the rest of the time there.  Soon afterward, I discovered by "accident" that the dose I was taking of my medicine was only 1/10th of what it should have been.  When I started taking the correct dose, I felt much better.  And the final miracle was getting the whole knee replaced!


Amazingly, He doesn't just support us as one might with a puppet on strings.  He allows us to move and do according to our own will.  Even if we're not always doing His will, He still helps us.  Oh, how we ought to thank our Heavenly King!.

Hearken

Mosiah 2:9  ". . . hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

I'm so excited to be studying King Benjamin's sermon.  It's one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon, and every word is worth pondering.

In verse 9, Benjamin gives us a formula for learning from the Lord.  First, he says we need to hearken.  Here's a quote from GospelDoctrine.com:  "The verb, "to hearken," implies that the message is heard, understood, and applied to one's life and situation. It requires action. As faith is more than just belief, hearkening is more than just hearing or listening. Therefore, It should be no surprise that this is the verb used in the scriptures on 487 different occasions. This verb encapsulates the essence of true religion, to hearken to the word of the Lord. 'Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.' (Matt 7:24-25). Again the parable of the sower teaches the principle, 'But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty' (Matt 13:23). Benjamin's desire for his people to hearken is so that they may understand, and...that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to their view." 

So "hearken" involves not just having the sound waves strike our ears.   Sometimes we describe this deeper act as listening.  But it's probably evendeeper than that.  We're opening our ears to the things of the Lord.  With kids, we talk about selective listening.  We know that kids can become "deaf" to the voice of their mother.  We have a tendency to be the same way.  We kind of tune things out to listen for other things we're more interested in.  

If we truly listen to the things of the Lord, we focus our attention on His words.  We have a strong desire to hear what He will tell us.  That's what happened with the Nephites as they were visited by the resurrected Lord.  

3 Nephi 11:3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a ^avoice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a ^bsmall voice it did ^cpierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

 4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they ^aunderstood it not.

 5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did ^aopen their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

 6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

 7 Behold my ^aBeloved Son, ^bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

 It was not until the 3rd time that the Father spoke that the people opened their ears and their eyes, and focused on the source of the voice and hoped with all their hearts to understand the voice.

When I was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant years ago, the scene in which Christ appears to the Nephites was called the Yearning Scene.  I think that word describes how we must feel about receiving God's word.  We must yearn for His guidance and presence, for His influence in our lives.  We must open our hearts and our minds in order to be blessed with understanding and for the mysteries of God to be unfolded to our view.