ENOS

 

Forgiveness and Charity

 

Enos was the son of Jacob who was the brother of Nephi.

 

Enos said he loved his father and that his father taught him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  He had listened to his father and began to hunger for the remission of his sins.

 

As he states this in:

 

Enos 2-4

 

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

 

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

 

4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

 

His conscience, which is him as a spirit within this earthly body, knew that things were not right, so he tried to gain forgiveness from the Lord because of the things his father had taught him about obtaining eternal life.  While he was hunting he decided to kneel down and pray for forgiveness.  He did this all the day long and into the night.  He was not going to stop until he received it, he had faith that the Lord could make it happen.

 

Then finally it happened.

 

Enos 5-8

 

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

 

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

 

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

 

8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.

 

The Lord told him it was because of his Faith in the Lord that had made him whole, even though he has never seen the Lord or heard his voice. 

This took place about 421 B.C. 

 

A good thing about the Book of Mormon is that records were kept accurately enough that the years computed from 600 B. C. gave an approximate date of different events.

 

Receiving forgiveness of his sins alone was insufficient for Enos.  He began to pray for his brethren, the Nephites and received another answer.

 

Enos 9-10

 

9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.

 

 

10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

 

Once this happened he had more unshaken faith in the Lord and began to desire the same for his brethren, the Lamanites who were struggling to know the truth inside of them about what really happened to them that they became enemies of the Nephites.

 

Enos 16-18

 

16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.

 

 

17 And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.

 

 

18 And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine.

 

Enos was one of the prophets keeping the record of the Book of Mormon, and he wanted the Lord to preserve the records until the Lord, in His own due time, to bring them unto them.  You will see in reading the Book of Mormon that it did not happen in their lifetime, but it has been happening since 1830.  The descendants of the Lamanites are the Indians of North and Central America.

 

He told Enos that his fathers prayed for the same thing and had the same kind of Faith that he has.

 

In the title page of the Book of Mormon, written by Mormon as he was inspired by the Lord, while compiling and condensing all the records for over 1,000 years, Mormon explained the purpose of the Book of Mormon.

 

Before reading the Book of Mormon, read this which was written by the last prophet in the Book of Mormon, named Moroni (Mormon's son), who buried the plates.  Under the direction of the Lord, he, as a resurrected being, brought them forth 1400 years later.

 

Moroni 10: 4-5

 

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

 

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. 

 

If you do this first, you will feel the Spirit of the Lord talking to your heart and mind that the things you are reading are true.

 

Now, here is a part of the title page of the Book of Mormon, written by Mormon, who the book was named after to honor (not worship) him.     

An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.

 

Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation—Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The interpretation thereof by the gift of God.

 

This was the answer to Enos's prayer and Enos's fathers prayer, now, today being answered.

 

To read more about Enos and the other Ancient American prophets who kept the record of the things that happened to them, now known as the Book of Mormon, go to www.lds.org and click on Scriptures.  Search the site and you will find out much more.