yes Elma The Elder and Elma the younger
were
Antichrist and well at least at first
and this has a lot to do with what the
Book of Mormons message is really all
about now before we get into that I want
to make an announcement here that for a
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[Music]
go all right welcome to Quick show my
name is Greg Matson and I am your host
in this episode we are talking about
Elma The Elder and Elma the younger as
antichrists and they were at least for a
time or at first and this is an
important message to see when we see the
distinction between those that are pro
Christ and those that are
Antichrist we understand the message of
the Book of Mormon better because that's
the whole Crux of the message of the
Book of Mormon and yet we miss this now
I've got a book coming out shortly
called the interpreters we're going to
go into this in a lot more detail in
that book but as I get ready for that
release I'm letting out little Snippets
of part of what the book has to say and
this is part of the message of what I
call the knor principle or the loss of
Christ and if we miss these little
messages that in this example Mormon and
Elma are giving us then we're missing
the complete message of what the Book of
Mormon is trying to teach us so first I
want to lay the ground workk here by
going to
abinadi in the book of mosiah and the
first we're going to go to mosiah 17
this is where we're not going to go
through through the whole trial here but
King Noah and the priests have tried
extensively to catch or snag a benadi
trap him in a lie or in blasphemy which
they end up doing finally by asking what
his interpretation of Isaiah 52:7 to10
is and unlike what many scholars have
said that interpretation is about Jesus
Christ and abad's entire message even
throughout talking about the law of
Moses is all about Jesus Christ and this
is why they're going to kill him it's
not because he's telling them they're
bad boys and girls it's because he's
preaching about the coming of Christ so
let's go to chapter 17 here in mosiah
and see what it has to say it says AB
badii we have found an accusation
against thee and Thou Art Worthy of
death all right so what is the accus a
that is worthy of death well verse eight
for thou Hast said here it is that God
himself should come down among the
children of men and now for this cause
Thou shalt be put to death see this is
very specific they're going to kill him
because he's prophesying about Jesus
Christ so King Noah and the priests are
preaching a different gospel or a gospel
that is based on in part the brass
plates the law of Moses but is void of
the doctrine of Christ so they say for
this cause Thou shalt be put to death
unless thou Willl recall all the words
which thou Hast spoken evil concerning
me and my people all right so this is
the groundwork we need to look at so in
the land of Lehi Nephi King Noah and his
priests are preaching a gospel that is
antir chist and they are teaching the
people the same gospel this is the
environment that Elma one of the priests
of Noah finds himself in and that
abinadi is preaching against abad's
message is about Jesus Christ now we can
come over then to chapter 7 in mosiah
we're actually going to go back to
chapter 7 but this is forward in time
where King limhi is talking about why
abinadi was killed right it says here in
mosiah chapter 7 verse 26 and a prophet
of the Lord have they slain y a chosen
man of God who told them of their
wickedness and Abominations and
prophesied of many things which are to
come y even the coming of
Christ and because he said unto them
same thing that Christ was the God the
father of all things and said that he
should take upon him the image of man so
the one that's going to condescend and
be mortal right and it be the image
after which Man was created in the
beginning or in other words he said that
man was created after the image of God
we're talking about at one minut here
and that God should come down among the
children of men and take upon Him flesh
and blood and go forth upon the face of
the Earth this is 1 Nephi 11 and now
because he said this they did put him to
death and many more things did they do
which brought down the wrath of God upon
them okay so again this is the
accusation this is why they kill abinadi
so this opens up the story of Alma
leaving the land of Lehi Nephi and going
to the Waters of
Mormon now let's learn about Elma a
little bit okay this is in mosiah chap
11 this is the beginning of the reign of
King Noah and here it says that King
Noah did walk after the desires of his
own heart this is an antichrist
statement when you look at what what the
vision of Lehi really means with the
tree and the building right the great
and spacious building but in verse 5 it
says the following 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 this is Elma
Elma is one of
them and it goes on to describe these
priests yay and thus they were supported
in their laziness
and in their idolatry and in their
whoredoms by the taxes which king Noah
had put upon his people thus did the
people labor exceedingly to support
iniquity so we need to understand that
when Elma the younger the son of Elma
goes
Wayward right Elma The Elder already
knows all about this he did the same
thing verse seven yay and they also
became idolatrous because they were
deceived by the Vain and flattering
words of the Kings and the priests for
they did speak flattering things unto
them now this is a common phrase and
this is important to understand because
the flattering things that are stated
are the things that are
Antichrist which means you don't need to
repent there are no spiritual
consequences you don't need to rely on
the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ
there's no judgment don't worry about
these things a little slap on the wrist
is all you'll
have right these are Antichrist
statements anti-
repentance
statements and this is Elma he's one of
these priests so when we find Elma out
in the waters of Mormon in chapter
18 we get some very interesting things
and with this environment here this
stage that has been set about an
antichrist King and Priests and people
and the words of abinadi that Alma
listens to what he's really picking up
here is everything about Jesus Christ so
when he goes out to the Waters of Mormon
we get this in chapter 18:7 and it came
to pass after many days there were a
goodly number gathered together at the
place of Mormon to hear the words of
Elma y all were gathered together that
believed on his word to hear him and he
did teach them and did preach unto them
repentance and
Redemption and faith on the Lord so this
is all the doctrine of Christ This is
why Mormon is saying this
because this is what was not right again
what we hear from the prophets are
reactions to their environments this is
not what was being taught this was
pushed against with King Noah and the
priests in the land of Lehi Nephi we
even get this here and it came to pass
this is verse 8 and it came to pass that
he said unto them behold here are the
Waters of Morman for thus were they
called and now as ye are desirous to
come into the fold of God and to be
called his people right
Christians and are willing to Bear one
another's burdens that they may be like
because this is part of what you do at
baptism when you when you go through
baptism you are going to condescend and
you are going to take upon yourself the
doctrine of Christ you don't just
believe in it in a relationship between
you and Christ where he is just giving
you the grace but rather you are to
participate and become like him and bear
others burdens just as he did in
Gethsemane and on the
cross and yay in verse 9 and our willing
to mourn with those that mourn yay and
comfort those that stand in need of
comfort and to stand as a witness of God
at all times and in all things and in
all places that you may be in even until
death that you may be redeemed of God
and be numbered with those of the first
resurrection that ye may have eternal
life you're going to see over and over
again eternal life connect connected
Here with Jesus Christ eternal life
connected with the doctrine of Christ
eternal life is
exaltation that's what the doctrine of
Christ is in its greatest
fulfillment is for us to be exalted by
God so this is the message of Alma in
reaction to the other priests and the
King it's all about Jesus Christ he has
been converted to Jesus Christ verse 13
and he may Grant unto you eternal life
through the Redemption of Christ whom he
has prepared from the foundation of the
world that's in the beginning the
premortal world verse 17 and they were
called The Church of God or the Church
of Christ because they're distinguishing
themselves the Church of Christ from
that time forward and this is what he
says to those that are called his
priests in verse 20 yet even he
commanded them that they should preach
nothing save it or repent repentance
right because repentance has to be based
on the atoning
sacrifice say it were repentance and
faith on the Lord who had redeemed his
people in other words hey we have been
bamboozled we have been missing this for
so long we need to preach nothing except
for Christ Faith repentance baptism
remission of sins gift of the Holy Ghost
endure to the end right eternal life
then here in verse 30 about those that
were converted Elma says how beautiful
are they to the eyes of them who there
came to the knowledge of their redeemer
at the Waters of Mormon came to the
knowledge of their redeemer yay and how
blessed are they for they shall sing to
his praise forever right they didn't
know about him they didn't have this
knowledge of him it had been
lost now let's get to Elma the younger
and let's see what kind of environment
he is coming out of remember almma the
younger could very well have been in the
waters of Mormon for all we know we
don't know his exact age but here they
are now they're in
zarahemla and Alma is at the head of the
church and this is the environment that
Elma and King mosiah find themselves in
and the environment that Elma the
younger is going to come from and see if
this is familiar to you so this is
chapter 27 verse one in mosiah and now
it came to pass that the persecutions
which were inflicted upon the church by
the unbelievers became so great that the
church began to murmur all right so
we're in an environment where those that
believe in Christ these are the
Believers that believe in Christ are
being persecuted and so the Believers
began to complain to the leaders about
the matter and they complain to Alma so
King mosiah puts out a statement a
proclamation throughout the land
roundabout that there should not any
unbeliever persecute any of those who
belong to the Church of God he's
basically putting out a first of the
First Amendment here verse three and
there was a strict command throughout
all the churches that there should be no
persecutions among them that there
should be an equality among all men
right that every man should esteem his
neighbor as himself laboring with their
own hands for their support So Live and
Let Live believe what you want but don't
persecute others for their
beliefs right because it's so bad that
they have to put this Proclamation out
and Elma the younger is a part of this
so here we get in verse 8 now the sons
of mosiah were numbered among the
unbelievers who the unbelievers of
Christ they don't believe in Christ and
also one of the sons of Alma was
numbered among them he being called Alma
after his father nevertheless he became
a very Wicked and idolatrous man and he
was a man of many words and did speak
much flattery there it is again to the
people therefore he led many of the
people to do after the manner of his
iniquities so again what are we saying
here right the flattery is what comes
when you fight against the doctrine of
Christ don't worry about it it's okay
you just have to believe you just have
to be a good person you can do some sin
it's not a problem right what it is is
it's an antichrist it's an
anti-reason sacrifice of Jesus Christ
statement it's a sentiment against
exaltation and eternal
life so again this is Elma and he was a
man of many words and did speak much
flattery to the people therefore he led
many of the people to do after the
manner of his iniquities and he became a
great hinderman to the prosperity of the
Church of God stealing away the hearts
of the people causing much dissension
among the people does that sound
familiar to you today many flattering
words
dissension look if you're online and
you're looking at what's going on right
now the different doctrines and things
that are you know pushing against
judgment pushing against exaltation
pushing against the doctrine of
Christ this is should be very familiar
to us This Book of Mormon is written for
our day we should find our own dilemas
in the Book of Mormon verse 10 and now
it came to pass that while he was going
about to destroy the Church of God for
he did go about secretly with the sons
of mosiah seeking to destroy the church
and to lead astray the people of the
Lord contrary to the Commandments of God
or even the king so the angel shows up
they are floored literally right on the
ground uh they're told the truths of the
Gospel they need to stop destroying the
church and then this is what Elma
says when he comes to after those couple
days where he is struck and dumb and
can't move his limbs he he says I have
repented of my sins and have been
redeemed of the Lord behold I am born of
the spirit okay so these are the first
things he said because this is what he
fought against this is what Mormon is
telling you again the reaction he fought
against the idea of being converted to
the doctrine of Christ he fought against
the prophesying of the coming of the
Messiah being born to a woman and taking
on the sins of the
world and and I want to go over this
real quick because I think this is
really important to understand why would
people fight against this well there's a
very good reason for this you know first
of all are you going to believe in a God
that is so weak he comes down and is
lower than us he's going to take upon
you on himself our sins what kind of
lofty God
would do such a thing what kind of all
powerful being is going to lower himself
is going to
condescend to offer
Redemption right that's the first thing
to think
about secondly when you have a doctrine
of Christ of a Christ that will come
down to earth take on flesh and then
take on the sins of the world you have
now now put yourself into a plan into a
paradigm that says that you as an
individual need to believe in Christ
need to believe in his
sacrifice and that you need to repent
you use that to
repent which is hard because then it is
self-introspection
right it is
self-evaluation it is going through the
hard decisions of repentance and
changing oneself and putting on the
character of God to move toward eternal
life that's
hard who wants to do that the answer is
not
everybody and so by pushing away the
doctrine of Christ you push away
spiritual consequences you push away the
idea of faith and
repentance and on the flip side of
bringing God down to us um you know the
all powerful God lowering himself below
us is that doctrine of
exaltation where it's blasphemy for them
back then before Christ comes to Earth
to say that God would lower himself and
become like man that's what we read in
mosiah 7 that he would take on the image
of man right the same image that God
gave man to begin with into a mortal
body but on the other side of that is
where we are today after his birth and
after
Christianity where most of Christianity
will say it is Blasphemous for us to
believe that as God lowered himself
below us that we can be lifted up by God
through our
agency to become more like him right the
doctrine of
exaltation and that is what
distinguishes us as Latter-Day Saints in
our theology from all of the rest of
Christianity for us the complete
doctrine of Christ its fulfilling
manifestation is the eternal
life of every man and woman that chooses
it and that is at onement God reaching
down to us and US reaching up to him and
you can see both of these things being
pushed
away throughout throughout time
especially the first half before the
birth of Christ and the second half of
exaltation after the birth of Christ and
the birth of
Christianity so back again to Elma here
right for said he being Elma the younger
I have repented of my sins and have been
redeemed of the Lord behold I am born of
the spirit Mormon putting this out here
right away as the reaction to what he
was fighting
against and 25 and the Lord said unto me
Marvel not that all mankind ye men and
women and All Nations kindreds tongues
and people must be born again right we
must condescend ourselves VES like
Christ yay born of God changed from
their carnal and Fallen state to a state
of righteousness being redeemed of God
becoming his sons and daughters see how
he is
reacting completely against what he has
been preaching in the
land and down in 29 I'm going to include
this verse because it's one of my
favorite of all scripture my soul hath
been
redeemed from the gall of bitterness and
bonds of iniquity I was in the darkest
Abyss but now I Behold The Marvelous
Light Of God my soul was racked with
eternal torment but I am
snatched and my soul is pained no more
and then here it is in verse 30 very
very directly succinctly talking about
the way he was before I rejected my
redeemer he says I rejected my redeemer
and denied that which had spoken by our
fathers but now that they may foresee
that he will come same same thing abedi
prophesied of that he will come and that
he
rememberthe of his creating he will make
himself manifest unto
all and so Elma the younger and the sons
of mosiah go around the land of Zera
this is before their mission trying to
undo all the damage that they had done
and what are they going to be preaching
about they're going to be preaching
about Jesus Christ because they they've
been preaching against this the entire
time and this is what we get in verse 35
of chapter 27 they were publishing all
the things which they had seen and
explaining the
prophecies right primarily that would be
of Christ and the scriptures to all who
desired to hear them and thus they were
instruments in the hands of God in
bringing many to the knowledge of the
truth yay to the knowledge of their
redeemer right again this is what it is
all about the entire Book of Mormon is
about this knowledge of the Redeemer and
the falling away over and over and over
again especially by the
denters of the Nephites from the
doctrine of Christ and lastly verse 37
here and how blessed are they for they
did publish peace they did publish Good
Tidings that's the good news or the
gospel right good tidings of good and
they did declare unto the people that
the Lord reth that is from Isaiah
52 and this is the interpretation of
abinadi as well that's why it is written
here by Mormon the reference to Isaiah
52 is right here in the proclamation of
the belief in the
Redeemer and so this whole line is
brought together this whole thread is
brought together from aadii preaching
against the antichrists of King Noah and
the priests including Elma
and preaching about the coming of Christ
and then Elma the the Elder going off to
the Waters of Mormon and preaching about
Jesus Christ which is the opposite of
what he was believing in and preaching
previously and then in an environment of
persecution of those that believed in
Christ Elma the younger is part of this
movement part of this new philosophy and
world view of being
Antichrist and he is brought to his
knees literally by the
angel and as he is awakened after a
couple of days what does he speak he
speaks about his
Redeemer and so if we look throughout
the Book of Mormon we will see this
story playing out over and over again
remember the book is called The Book of
Mormon another Testament of Jesus Christ
and from the very GetGo in first Nephi 1
when Lehi sees his vision not the vision
of the tree of life but the vision that
he has of the Throne of God and the 12
around him and the concourses of angel
praising God it is about Jesus Christ
that is also a reaction to the loss of
Christ in
Jerusalem and if we look at this filter
this interpreter if you will I believe
that you can get a greater context and a
greater meaning of what the book of
Mormon's message is as another Testament
of Jesus Christ thanks for listening
[Music]
