Come Follow Me LDS- Alma 32-35 Part 1, Book of Mormon

'Alma 32- Faith & The Word'
In contrast to the teachings and desires of Korihor, Alma teaches us how The Word (the Seed), Faith & Perfect Knowledge work. Unlike Korihor, the gospel requires an imperfect knowledge with which we can offer faith (trust), which, if developed properly, can become a Perfect Knowledge. It is Faith before the Signs, not the other way around.

 

 Raw Transcript

 

in right episode we go over how the word
is in christ here we go
okay so episode two or part two of the
come follow me this week for alma
chapters 32
to 35 this is going to be alma chapters
33 34 and 35 here
now we have just had alma's sermon on
the seed which is the word of god
and remember what mormon is doing here
in these six chapters chapters 30
through 35 that was
one single chapter for him he is
creating a narrative
right where he gives two examples to
start off in chapter 30
he starts off with korahor the
an antichrist right he is antichrist and
then the
zoramites right and what he's going to
do now he and amulek
in chapters 32 which we went over
previously with the seed being the word
and faith and now chapters 33
and 34 these are all a response to these
first two examples
of korahor and the zoramites so in
chapter 32
we talked about how faith
is crucial and the way that faith works
is the exact
opposite of what coral whore wants which
is he wants to put the sign
in front of faith and the word
alma clearly goes over his process
his scientific method if you were his
spiritually scientific method
of first getting the word the seed
adding just a little bit of faith to it
just put a little bit of trust into it
then grow that word more and grow that
faith more and eventually you can then
get the sign you can get the perfect
knowledge now in chapters 33 and 34
what we're going to get is the insertion
of the doctrine of christ
and a more full picture of the plan of
redemption
and how all these things tie together
finally in 35
we get kind of a recap of everything in
chapter 33
here we start off the same way we're
going to start off in chapter 34.
no surprise verse 1 says now after alma
had
spoken these words right
they sent forth unto him desiring to
know whether they should believe in
one god that they might obtain this
fruit
of which he had spoken or how they
should plant the seed
or the word of which he had spoken which
he said must be planted in their hearts
or in what manner
they should begin to exercise their
faith so
they're accepting this right they okay
we see this
teach us more how do we do this well the
answer here is going to be
centered in the doctrine of christ of
course that's what
faith is ultimately centered in
and he says look you can worship
wherever you want
you don't have to do this in the
synagogues as the wealthy zoramites have
told you this is
all about control for the elite
zoramites
and he refers to zenus now zenus is
mentioned
by i believe five or six different
writers
in the book of mormon as an old world
prophet
from the brass plates now we don't have
the words of zenus in the old testament
that's not necessarily surprising a
couple of reasons we would look at here
for those not being in there number one
is that we don't have all of the
writings of the prophets in the old
testament certainly
whether there are edits whether there
are scribal errors
whether there are complete books that
are
not found in the old testament that is
not
surprising because eventually power
wants control and they're going to
control a narrative
the second reason on this is tradition
what i mean by that is that
laban right from jerusalem the record
keeper or holder is likely an
ephraimite and likely a direct
descendant
of joseph that's why he is in his
position
of leadership that's why he has his
status that's why
he holds the brass plates
but these are josephite records
and let's just go back and look at the
time of lehi here
it's mostly in the land of judah right
the kingdom of judah
the northern kingdom which would have
been called also
ephraim or israel or even joseph
held the ten tribes of israel that were
lost
when assyria conquered them and carried
many of them away
they held a separate tradition from what
would have been held
in judah more than likely so if we
follow the
train or chain of record keeping going
all the way back to
joseph of egypt and those plates being
handed down
those records being handed down that is
not necessarily the same
grouping of records that would have been
held
by say for example the high priest
or the scribes even in jerusalem
we don't know what discrepancies there
would be there what
changes there would have been even
within similar books
and certainly we don't know that all of
the books would have been the same
now what's interesting here is that if
the zoramites here we don't know this
but if these
zoramites are called zoramites because
they are descendants of
zoram who was the servant of laban
right and a tribe the only reason i say
it might not be that way
is because it's it's very possible that
there are a lot of mulakites here
that's that's a tendency we seem to see
in these dissenting groups
and their leader's name is zoram so are
they called after their leader's name
or maybe their leader's name is called
after the tribe we don't know that
but if these are descendants of zoram
from jerusalem the red the
keeper of the records there in the
library of laban
well zorum was likely also from ephraim
so these records are a direct
message so to speak of heritage to them
if if they are of that tribe of the
tribe of the zoramites
but he brings up zenus here who was
killed
because he was preaching about christ
just like they wanted to do with lehi
do ye remember to have read what zenith
the prophet of old has said concerning
prayer or worship
now why does he ask them do you remember
this
well because they've got the records and
they were taught
these things remember these are
dissenters out
of the church they were a part of the
church
they believed in christ at one point
and then fell away like the other
dissenters
primarily focused on not believing
in christ and what does zena say about
worship
he says that he worshipped him when he
was in the wilderness
and that he was merciful unto him when
he did cry unto thee
in his field when he cried unto thee in
my prayer
and thou didst hear me and when i did
turn to my house thou just hear my
prayer
and when i did turn unto my closet o
lord and prayed unto thee thou didst
hear me
so he's referring to zenus
bring starting to bring in the doctrine
of christ here because he's definitely
a prophet of
strong messianic doctrine but also of
prayer and worship
so he's saying you don't need to be
controlled you don't have to just pray
and worship
in the synagogues in fact zena says
and thou hast also heard me when i have
been cast out
which he probably was often because of
what he taught
and have been despised of mine enemies
he thou just hear my cries
and was to anger with mine enemies and
now just visit them in thine anger
with speedy destruction so zenith here
is the perfect figure to bring in here
in talking about when and where to
worship
and to introduce the doctrine of christ
here to
answer their questions about the seed
and faith
and a perfect knowledge and now we're
going to get into
these phrases where he keeps going over
because of thy
son right we bring in the sun here
and we start this with verse 11 here it
says and thou just hear me because of
mine afflictions this is still zenis
and my sincerity and it is because of
thy son that thou hast been thus
merciful unto me
for thou hast turned thy judgments away
from me because
of thy son so he's bringing this idea of
worship and prayer
together with the doctrine of christ
and then just as he said to corahor
about
signs already having been given and
testimony already been given a witness
is already
speaking about christ he says
do ye believe this is alma speaking to
the poor zoramites do ye believe those
scriptures which have been written
by them of old behold if ye do ye must
believe
what zena said for behold he said thou
hast turned away thy judgment
because of thy son this is getting past
the cherubim to the tree of life the
doctrine of christ
and then again in 14 now behold my
brethren i would
ask if ye had read the scriptures if you
have
how can ye disbelieve on the son of god
right so you can see how and we see this
throughout the history of christianity
really right especially without a
printing press how
the scriptures were controlled by a
small group of people
until the printing press came along and
revolutionized everything and brought in
process
protestantism there just wasn't a lot of
access to it
but they've read it they've read these
things at least before it looks like
again they were part of the nephites
previously
and part of the church and then he
brings up another witness
he says for it is not written that zenus
alone spake of these things
but zenith also spake of these things
and he says something very interesting
here this is about the zoromites not
believing in christ
and this is again this is an old
testament
type or or period of time talking about
christ in the plan of salvation it says
here
for zenik said thou art angry o lord
with this people this would be
at least the northern kingdom because
they will not
understand thy mercies which thou hast
bestowed upon them
because of thy son this is the same
thing that happens with all of the
children of israel
at mount sinai they deny christ
they deny the higher law for whatever
reason
if there's there's a lack of maturity
there's a lack of progress with
humankind
there's a lack of culture whatever it is
they do not accept it and this is what
we run into over and over again in the
book of mormon
through these dissenters they don't
accept it
so this goes directly speaking to the
zoramites who have given up on christ
they choose basically
not to understand thy mercies which thou
has bestowed upon them because of thy
son
right and of course you take away the
son you take away the sacrifice of jesus
christ
and you disrupt the entire plan of
redemption
it's not possible to have
the same loving god it's not possible
for us to
exert charity in the same way and to
grow and to progress
the same way and so he follows up and
says and now my brethren you see that a
second prophet
of old has testified of the son of god
and because the people would not
understand his words
they stoned him to death right well
that's basically what the elite
zoramites want to do with alma and with
all
of the nephites that is the major point
of conflict here with the dissenters and
the lamanites on one side and the
nephites on the other it is the
doctrine of christ it always is
and then he brings up a third prophet
it's moses and we can see this
still in the old testament today
and this is of course one of my favorite
examples i use this in the nihor
principle all the time
and as a parallel to the vision of lehi
he says he was spoken of by moses being
the son of god
yea and behold a type was raised up in
the wilderness
that whosoever would look upon it might
live
and and many did look and live again the
example here is that
moses was putting up a type of christ he
knew what he was doing
and all the people had to do was look
right perhaps they'd already rejected
enough and all they had to do this was a
way to
make it even more simple for them just
look
but many did not they would not be
healed
and and looked to the brazen serpent
it says here few understood the meaning
of those things
and this because of the hardness of
their hearts so this is what happens
with the zoramites this is what happened
with the amla zeiss this is what happens
with
the amalekites this is what happens with
the malachi heights the king men the
the gadiant robbers
and to us to some degree or another at
times
right we don't grab on hard enough to
the doctrine of christ we don't look
enough
to the brazen serpent to be healed we
don't pull enough
on that spiritual economy that has been
created
by the sacrifice of jesus christ it says
here
the reason they would not look
is because they did not believe that it
would heal them
so it's pride they simply won't
look because they don't believe
so this is the same idea as a parallel
even to
the seed that elmo was just going over
it last chapter
you have to plant the seed and then you
have to give just a little
bit of faith to start off a little bit
of belief
and then develop that into a faith and
many would not do that here in this
example
he says cast about your eyes talking to
these zoramites
and begin to believe in the son of god
this is the seed so to speak this is an
understanding about the word
about the gospel about the good tidings
that he will come to redeem his people
and that he shall suffer
and die to atone for their sins and that
he shall rise again from the dead
and then he brings it right back here
right that back to the seed
and the word in 23 the last verse of the
chapter
and now my brethren i desire that ye
shall plant
this word right it's the doctrine of
christ
it's the gospel in your hearts
and as it begins to swell even so
nourish it by your
faith and behold it will become a tree
springing up
in you unto everlasting life and then
may god grant unto you that your burdens
may be light
through the joy of his son that's an
interesting concept
and he's gone over that a few times here
when he called on the lord at the end of
chapter 32
for himself and for his missionary
companions
he's saying that the burdens will be
made light not
removed necessarily
but they're made to feel light because
they are swallowed up
in the joy of the understanding of jesus
christ the understanding of the doctrine
of christ
and maybe that's something we ought to
work on more i know i need to do that
more
you know it's it's the the natural thing
to do is to say okay i'm going to pray
to this land and and maybe that's the
right thing to pray for
but the lord's not always going to
remove burdens from us
but he might be able to help us put them
into perspective
and to bear them better similar to what
he
told joseph smith in liberty jail
and they can become swallowed up in the
joy
and understanding of the doctrine of
christ
so then we move over to chapter 34 here
and we've got now this
idea that okay the word the seed that
alma was talking about in chapter 32
is focused on the gospel of jesus christ
right the word is found in christ
and and his sacrifice in many instances
we call christ the word the logos
the joseph smith translation of john 1
actually
removes that but in other places in the
scripture
we do get the implication
that christ is also called the word and
of course how does 34 start off here
and now it came to pass that after alma
had spoken
these words unto them he sat down upon
the ground
tag teaming here again with amulek his
favorite companion
and amulek arose and began to teach them
saying
my brethren i think that it is
impossible that ye should
be ignorant of the things which have
been spoken concerning the coming of
christ
you see how we've moved from the seed
into the doctrine of christ they're
expanding on what that word is
who is taught by us to be the son of god
in other words we see christ differently
today but to them
he would be saying right the messiah
which have been spoken concerning the
coming of the messiah
who is taught by us to be the son of god
what that means is it's jehovah who's
going to be born
into the world yea i know that these
things were taught unto you
bountifully before your dissension from
among us
so some of them may have not received
that as much who knows how long they
have
been dissenters but a good portion of
them at least here according to amulek
had been taught the fullness of the
gospel previously
and he says look since you're asking
about how to do this what the process is
and now that alma has basically laid
down this foundation about what the word
is
and the support for this word by several
prophets
he's going to kind of establish
alma's words and then move on further
into the plan of redemption
he says and does he have desired of my
bro
my beloved brother that he should make
known unto you what ye should do
because of your afflictions and he hath
spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your
minds
ye and he hath exhorted you unto faith
into patience
yea even that you would have so much
faith as
even to plant the word in your hearts
that you may try that ye may try
the experiment of its goodness
right in other words the way that would
be written
if we had this in hebrew would be that
ye
may put to a test
or a trial the experiment of its
goodness
right it is just like the scientific
method and he says and we behold that
the great question which is in your mind
is whether the word be in the son of god
or whether there shall be no christ okay
so this is what alma has been saying
here in the last chapter 33
the word that he's talking about that
you need to grab onto that needs to grow
and flourish within you
well what is that well it's jesus christ
it's the doctrine of christ and so when
he
asks amulek asks the zoramites here the
question which is in your minds
is whether the word be in the son of god
right what he's saying is
the question in your mind is is the word
all about the doctrine of christ
because they've been taught now for a
while that it is not
and he says here then in verse six and
he also beheld that my brother alma
has proved right he's given evidence
unto you in many instances that
the word is in christ unto salvation
right that's what this is all about so
the doctrine that you follow
needs to be focused and centered
in the doctrine of christ now we're
going to get some great
theology here some great words here from
elm from amulek
he adds his testimony onto this
and then he starts to go over the plane
of redemption built around
the doctrine of christ he says for it is
expedient that an atonement should be
made
remember that's a payment for according
to the great plan of the eternal god
there must be an atonement made
or else all mankind must unavoidably
perish
yea all are hardened ye all are fallen
and are lost
and must perish except it be through the
atonement which it is expedient should
be made
and so he talks about there being a
great sacrifice an eternal sacrifice
that must be made and interestingly
enough where
they were likely following at least
portions of the law of moses here and
certainly were following the law of
moses previous with the nephites
he says it is expedient that there
should be a great and last
sacrifice yea not a sacrifice of man
neither of beast neither of any man or a
fowl for it shall not be a
human sacrifice but it must be an
infinite and eternal sacrifice so
this makes all the sense in the world we
have the preparatory gospel
we have the law of moses the lower law
what does it do
it looks forward so the sacrifices
of the beasts and the fowls at least
right or a looking forward to the final
sacrifice it is preparation
looking forward to the mercy
and the grace and the love of jesus
christ and his sacrifice
now why human sacrifice well because
any human can't do this we can all
sacrifice our own lives for each other
and maybe that helps you and you can
draw strength from that maybe it saves
your life
but it cannot atone for sins
it cannot pay for your sins so the idea
again that is often kind of watered down
out there in christianity
that god that jesus christ died on the
cross for us while that's true
it's a very incomplete understanding
of what the atonement is there are a lot
of people
who have given up their lives for others
but only from the garden of gethsemane
and
later according to bruce r mcconkey on
the cross as well
was there an atonement made for our sins
it had to be by a perfect being and it
had to be by the son of god
which would create a bottomless
well of mercy and charity
and grace that we can draw from
and he says once that sacrifice will be
made then there's an
ending to the sacrifice of the animals
of of blood now the shedding of blood
because all those things
look forward to christ and why is this
done
it's done and 15 we're told he shall
bring salvation to all those who shall
believe on his name
this being the intent of this last
sacrifice
right it gives us something to
look toward and to draw from in the
spiritual economy
it's not just a matter of a transaction
in a spiritual economy
it's an endless amount of spiritual
capital that we can look to
and that we can pull from if we choose
right this is the intent of the last
sacrifice
to bring about the bowels of mercy that
is i believe not just in the lord
but in each of us as well which
overpowereth justice
right it gets us by the cherubim
and bringeth about means unto men that
they may have faith
unto repentance in other words that we
have we are able to
trust in that act
knowing that we can be forgiven of our
sins
so without that act we cannot have that
forgiveness
if we are based purely on meritocracy
then it is simply a matter of checks and
balances
of a ledger and we fall far
short even with one
mark on the on the negative side of the
ledger
of where we need to be and who we're
trying to become like
and in this way he explains mercy
satisfies the demands of justice
in other words that cherubim has been
put up in
direct directly as an obstacle in front
of the tree
of life but the sacrifice of jesus
christ is how we get through that
think about that think about that in a
temple setting
and if we move to temple imagery here we
can read verse 16 a little more clearly
and this would be once you're past the
cherubim right
and thus mercy can satisfy the demands
of justice
and encircles them in the arms
of safety while he that exercises no
faith under repentance is exposed to the
whole law
of the demands of justice therefore only
unto him that has faith under repentance
is brought about the great and eternal
plan of redemption
right so it is not just a matter of i
accept
christ as my savior as my redeemer
it is those that have faith under
repentance continually
that bring about that mercy and we can
see here in this example
something of being endowed right which
means in some ways being
gifted but also being clothed or
robed right over a procession
over a an ascendancy and as
the high priest for example changes
robes and then moves into
the holy of holies or to the veil
he is given the strength there
through the atonement to meet at the
veil
and to pass through the veil and to be
encircled
in the arms of safety otherwise we are
well back of that right rearward
where we are like adam and eve and we
are naked
not robed with these things not robed
with a priesthood
and we are susceptible to justice
you can just see amulet going through
these
some understanding here i believe of of
of a temple process and then he goes
over these calls to
cry out right which is basically to pray
you know in your houses in your
household in morning midday evening
against the power of your enemies cry
against
cry unto him against the devil crying to
him over the crops of your fields for
your success of your business for your
job
the flocks of your field that they may
increase those are all
righteous things as long as it's in the
right level of the hierarchy the values
hierarchy
and pour out your whole souls in your
closets so he's talking about again
where it is
this is a big center of discussion here
is with prayer remember it's the
opposite here
if we go back to chapter 31 with the
zoramites with the rami emptum
in their synagogues right he's teaching
the proper
doctrine behind prayer answering to the
zero
the wealthy zoramites but interestingly
here
right with our higher and lower laws he
moves on from prayer which is a lower
law
activity and he gets to the following
in 28 and now behold my beloved brother
and i say unto you
do not suppose that this is all
for after ye have done all these things
if ye turn away the needy
and the naked and visit not the sick and
afflicted and in part of your substance
what does this remind you of this is
that highest level that fourth phase of
the priesthood
the second phase of the melchizedek
priesthood the fourth phase of the
priesthood
it is zion it is community so he's
naturally
either consciously or just following the
patterns of the gospel here or
inspiration going from the lower law
to the higher law you can see these
patterns throughout the scriptures
and that's why i think it's important to
understand these four
interpreters and a number of these quick
principles
and then of course the highest attribute
therefore if you do not remember to be
charitable
er as dross which the refiners do cast
out
right so going back to building your
faith with a seed
look faith without works is dead pray
everywhere
and have mercy and grace
and charity for your fellow man and then
we get to this which we may have heard
before in verse 32 for behold
this life is the time for men to prepare
to meet god
this is our probationary state yea
behold the day of this life is the day
for men to perform
their labors i think this is very
important do we focus on
performing our labors righteous acts
or are we leaning sometimes more toward
consumption
right consumerism uh netflix binging you
know i'm not saying
these things are bad or anything like
that i'm just saying
are we laboring as much as we should
or do we receive more do we consume
more emotionally and
entertainment wise perhaps
idle hands are not good and we're told
from the fall which we all experience we
are all adam and eve
that we're to work with the spread of
our brow
and here we can work to prepare to meet
god in this probationary state
33 and now as i said unto you before as
ye have had so many witnesses
therefore i beseech of you that ye do
not procrastinate the day of your
repentance
until the end for after this day of life
which has given us to prepare for
eternity behold if we do not
improve our time it's an interesting
phrase
if we do not improve our time while in
this life
then cometh the night of darkness
wherein there can no
labor there can be no labor performed
so mortality is where we do this
mortality is where we take advantage of
this time
and if we procrastinate we can't take
advantage of it
i am completely guilty of that
procrastinating
the day of my repentance i'm sure i'm
doing it now
where there are things that i probably
need to change
introspection what can i be better at
what can i do
how can i prepare to meet god better and
so he kind of
concludes this gives some warnings about
procrastinating with your repentance
it says and now my beloved brother and i
desire that ye should remember
common phrase in the book of mormon
remember these things
maybe look back to what you when you had
the fullness of the gospel
and that you should work out your
salvation that's a great phrase
that's an individual effort first and
then we help others do the same
work out your salvation with fear before
god what is fear
it is reverence it is respect
it doesn't mean that you're afraid right
that's not what fear means here
and that ye should no more deny the
coming of christ
right this is the center of everything
and that you need to take on you the
name of christ in fact
so here amulek adds his sermon to his
words to alma's words
in the answer to korahor and the wealthy
zoramites
the elitist zoramites there is the word
in alma 32 that needs faith to develop
it until you get a perfect knowledge the
faith and the word those come before
the sign and this is how you pray
you are not controlled in a synagogue
and that word is centered in the
sacrifice of jesus christ
and we can build out this spiritual
economy the plan of redemption
and show you how all of this works while
it centers
in the sacrifice of jesus christ and
even throw in a little temple imagery
here
so once they're done preaching to the
poor zoromites they go back to the land
of jerusalem remember gershon
is where the anti-nephi lehi's are and
this is down toward the southern part of
the land of the nephites
and the zoramites are down in the that
land as well
near it they're adjacent it looks like
to jersey
so they're close to it and this is going
to become a problem here shortly
and the zoro might start asking
questions right here's what they say in
verse three and it came to pass that
after the more popular part of the
zoramites
this would be the elite zoramites had
consulted together concerning the
words which had been preached unto them
they were angry because of the word for
it did destroy
their craft right their system
especially a monetary system
they may have been getting wealthy off
of the backs of the poor
through religion therefore they would
not
hearken unto the words and so they go
throughout all the land
and they start asking everybody
concerning the words which had been
spoken
and they didn't tell everybody why they
were doing this
they wanted to find out who was in favor
of the words
from alma and amulek and so once they
find out that people are
those that accept what alma and amulek
have said they become
castaways even further they're cast out
of the land
and so those people come over into the
land of gershon
with the anti-nephi lehighs
and the zoramites are furious about this
right they want to punish isn't that
interesting how that happens
they don't just care that they're cast
out they want them to
suffer and so they're angry with the
nephites for giving
them land in gershon and for supporting
them and helping them
they want them to suffer and so they
begin to prepare for war
and so the anti-nephi lehighs and the
poor zoramites are moved out of the land
of gershon into another city of melik
and the nephite army is placed into the
land of gershon to help protect them
and look at all that has gone on here
now 18 years into the reign of the
judges since alma the younger
started as the chief judge
right this is what he says here in verse
15.
now alma being grieved for the iniquity
of his people ye for the wars and the
bloodsheds
and the contentions which were among
them and having been to declare
the word or sent to declare the word
among all the people in every city and
seeing that their
the hearts of the people began to wax
hard and that they began to be offended
because of the strictness of the word
his heart was exceedingly sorrowful just
think of
all the work that he's done he's trying
to bear the burdens of an entire people
and lift them all up imagine that strain
that stress
he feels the responsibility
he wants the responsibility in a sense
but he in order to do that he has to
bear these burdens
and so he's going to bring his sons
together here to give them their
charge right a calling and that's what
we move into next in the following
chapters so mormon gives us these six
chapters 30-35
as one narrative two negative examples
and then the answers to those false
doctrines
and behaviors and if we follow through
on this we can see
how he moves from the famous seed
in chapter 32 and as
he builds that up into a tree of life so
to speak
the branches and the leaves are the
doctrine of christ
that are built up in that seed and the
plan of salvation the plan of redemption
is what creates the full bloom of
that tree of life and we are able to get
there
individually and with others
because of the doctrine of christ
because of the
sacrifice of jesus christ that allows us
to pass
by the sentinels that allows us to pass
by the cherubim arriving at the holy of
holies
as the high priest does arriving at
the tree of life and it all starts
with a seed i'll talk to you next time

 

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