Come Follow Me LDS- Mosiah 25-28, Book of Mormon (May 18 - 24)

'Alma The Younger'
- The Importance of Records
- Alma's Calling & Election Made Sure
- Dissension within the church
- Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah meet a messenger

 

 

 

 

okay in this Cwic episode of come

follow me we are going to be going over

chapters 25 to 28 in Mosiah if you get a

chance go ahead and like this episode

and subscribe that would help me out a

lot know as well that this is available

on podcast on Apple and iTunes and

Spotify whatever your choice for podcast

app is as well as on YouTube so here we

are now we've gotten all these factions

that have been brought back together

right so we've got the Nephites of

course that are with the Mulekites

right those are actually two groups that

are hearing Zarahemla then we've got the

two groups that broke off from each

other in the land of Nephi and that

would be the people of Lim high and the

people of Alma so they've all been

brought back together again here and

chapter 25 is basically going over this

reunion of all of these peoples and this

is kind of like a new beginning for

everybody right they've got to invite

all these people back in introduce

everybody go through the records maybe

have a ceremony but it's obviously a

time of a lot of excitement novelty it's

a big moment for everybody here in

Zarahemla and we learn a few things

about the people here first of all

they're gathered into two bodies and

this would be probably exactly how this

would be done you have all of the

Nephites so to speak in one group and

all of the Mulekites in another group

right and probably in both of those

groups you would have subgroups of

tribes for example with the Nephites

you've always got the Nephites zoramites

the Jacobites the Josephites

and then under the mule kites very

possibly there are tribes within that

group as well

that would be in very natural way

anciently to organize yourself primarily

by family or by bloodline and we're told

here again about the numbers and was

just something that we sometimes forget

as we go throughout the book of Mormon

we're told here in verse 2

now there were not so many of the

children of Nephi or so many of those

who were descendants of Nephi as there

were of the people of Zarahemla who was

a descendant of Mulek and who and

those who came with him into the

wilderness and those who came with him

we don't know who that is and then we

learned as far as coupling the people

the mule kites and the Nephites together

even then that group is not even half as

numerous as the Lamanites we should keep

this in mind it's not brought up that

much by Mormon as we go through the

abridgment of these records but the

Nephites are always a minority in their

group there's got to be a type of social

dynamic that's always at play there even

though here we're gonna see the mule

kites are adopted in and given the name

of Nephi so to speak right as one people

that doesn't mean that there wouldn't be

some contentions and among the people

between the mule kites and the Nephites

but king Mosiah here in front of

everybody now in Zarahemla he reads the

records of zenith from the time they

left Zarahemla and then came back here

he reads the account of alma right and

his brethren in all their afflictions

and the burdens that they bore in helium

and in verse 13 just against some

specificity on what's happening here

with the people and now all the people

of Zarahemla were numbered with the

Nephites and this because kingdom had

been conferred the kingdom had been

conferred upon none but those who were

descendants of Nephi so even though the

Nephites are a minority right they've

got the records they've got the

priesthood they've got the rights to the

temple probably right it's very similar

to what we see with Joseph Smith to

bring him young in the restoration while

I was Brigham Young than succeeding

profit a lot had to do with having all

of the keys there were very few that had

all the keys of the Apostles to the

temple and Brigham Young was one who did

so then Mosiah goes through the records

he gives timed for Alma to speak right

the people of Limhi who were not able

to get baptized because there was no

authority in the land of Nephi and Amman

did not want to baptize either he didn't

feel worthy so they get baptized by Alma

and Mosiah gives the authority to Alma

to be able to go out and build the

church right create assemblies

contributing create wards so to speak he

made mistakes and he ordains priests and

teachers and starts to organize or

reorganize the church in some way

perhaps that was that is different from

the way Mosiah had it so we learned a

couple things here number one Mosiah is

the one giving the authority to Alma so

it is Mosiah who has the keys right the

keys of presidency and he confers this

power probably ordains and calls Alma to

go out and do what he does that would

make sense that the king would have that

because the king usually is the one that

has the Melchizedek Priesthood at least

a Davidic King that's what we would see

in Jerusalem and we see that his

grandfather and his father King Benjamin

probably held these secular and

spiritual keys so to speak combined in

their kingship so Alma goes out and

starts to build up the church and

organize the church under the permission

of Mosiah now keep in mind again that

we're talking about a hundred to 120 BC

so this is what has happened all these

things have happened you know at this

mark of these this this hundred to 120

years before the birth of Christ right

roughly 150 years to 130 years before

Christ comes to the Americas this is

what is building up to that time period

and immediately we simply go to the next

chapter after Alma has built up the

church here to chapter 20

and we see that there's already

dissensions and problems and here again

we move into the pride cycle that we get

over and over and over again throughout

the Book of Mormon just seems to

change just like that I think that in

and of itself the rapidity of that

change is a message to us of how fragile

things can be we have a lot more

security we have an economy that is much

different here in the West we have

health care that is much different than

they had agent Lee we have the internet

we have education we have books we have

experience and age that they likely

didn't have back then

and so things can be drawn out much

longer right as far as good healthy

times but we do get the message here

from the Book of Mormon that things can

hang by a thread and change very quickly

and we get here in chapter 26 right in

verse 1 now it came to pass that there

were many of the rising generation that

could not understand the words of King

Benjamin being little children at the

time he spake unto his people and they

did not believe that traditions of their

fathers what a dynamic this is right

this change we can see this often times

in certain generations there is a

larger generation gap sometimes there's

always a generation gap there are

different traditions there are the

different things that different

personalities there's different

psychology right between an older

generation and a younger generation that

is always in play that's part of life

but there are certain generations it

seems that where there is more disparity

between the generations by the way I

think we're in one of those now I think

we're in one of those where there's

there's so much change that the

generation today is a little bit further

away from their parents than they may

have been a generation or two ago we can

see that here the same thing happens

here it says and they did not believe

the tradition of their fathers this is

the good tradition of their fathers from

King Benjamin we saw the same thing in

the 60s right the big change from

television and theater and movies and

the pill right and drugs that were

introduced as there's just this huge

change our parents don't understand

these things and now you have social

media and the internet and technology

that is that this new generation has

grown up with and so there is very easy

to see that there would be more of a

generation gap right now but that seems

to be what they're experiencing here for

whatever reason it says they did not

believe what had been said concerning

the resurrection of the Dead neither did

they believe concerning the coming of

Christ boom think of everything we've

just gone over about the doctrine of

Christ think of everything that has been

taught here you know this now this may

not be the those that were with Alma or

even those that were with Limhi but

could be partially to them but all those

the words there ahem Allah when

King Benjamin spoke those that you're

rising generation they don't buy it

anymore right just like that it changes

and again what's happening the Nehor

principle is coming into play again and

this is crucial to understand it's not

just again I beat a dead horse on this

but it's not just good and bad and we're

being evil what's happening is they're

not believing in the coming of Christ

anymore so you have to get rid of that

if you want to appease others and

yourself in a lower level of living

spiritually and it says here and now

because of their unbelief they could not

understand the Word of God and their

hearts were hardened well that's

naturally what happens and we all go

through those phases individually right

the more we back off and we lose faith

the more we don't understand things it's

kind of interesting how that works and

so if we're talking say between those

that have major doubts and those that

have a strong testimony

that's the gap that needs to be bridged

it's not just why don't you believe this

why don't you do this it's it's there's

got to be first some belief somehow

there's got to be a belief in those that

are doubting they've somehow we need to

instill more faith and belief in them

about the doctrine of Christ primarily

but the doctrine period of the church

doctrine is so crucial we seem to so

oftentimes in my experience what I see

is you know what y'all have teachers or

or others that just take everything so

lightly and it's so much fluff right if

we don't bear down and bring on and

and absorb the doctrine then that's

where we're gonna start losing things

about you know with our faith and with

our testimonies and with our behavior

here's a quote here from Boyd K Packer

that is appropriate here it says true

doctrine understood changes attitudes

and behaviors I mean isn't that think

about that the study of the doctrines of

the gospel will improve behavior quicker

than a study of behavior will improve

behavior right so the more we can delve

in and understand the doctrine the more

our behavior in our belief will be

anchored in truth and so oftentimes we

want to talk specifically just about the

behavior or we want to add fluff and

entertainment into everything but we've

got to get into the doctrine this is

gonna become more and more and more

important as the attacks on the

church and the doctrine of the gospel

continue to increase and we need to

learn it for ourselves we need to teach

it to our children we need to teach it

to each other

we need to grab on to the doctrines of

the church to be able to withstand those

fiery darts Bruce are McConkie brings up

something here as well he says it is one

thing to teach ethical principles right

of course we want to teach things that

are ethical honesty

chastity all of these things are

important but there's something

underlying that he says it's quite

another to proclaim the great doctrinal

verities which are the foundation of

true Christianity right he separates the

two there is the principles but there is

the doctrine that is a foundation for

those principles it is only when gospel

ethics are tied to gospel doctrines that

they rest on a sure foundation and gain

the full operation in the lives of the

saints right so again I mean that's why

I think this come follow me program is

so great but we need to move beyond just

a store just a superficial story of the

Book of Mormon right we need to dig in

to these doctrines and anchor ourselves

to them so there is a my a large but

minority group that are dissenters now

from the church that do not believe in

the coming of Christ it's the same thing

right same thing we've just gone over

with everybody this is what we get in

verses 6 & 7 it says for it came to pass

that they did deceive many with their

flattering words those who are

dissenting and see if you've experienced

this yourself today right who were in

the church and did cause them to commit

many sins therefore it became expedient

that those who committed sin that were

in the church should be admonished by

the church or that is warned right by

the church so in other words you know we

get or we're moving into this whole

thing of justice and mercy here right of

drawing a line and tolerance and how

these two things play together these are

these are two sides of the coin that are

constantly in conflict and it's part of

our mortal experience I believe to try

and understand this and to work with

this that's what the whole plan of

salvation is right is judgment with the

law judgment to the commandments and

mercy and grace from our Savior Jesus

Christ but you can't give up one or the

other you can't give up justice

doesn't work that way and so you'll see

sometimes in the church or in in

politics or in anything you'll see a

strong move you know over to justice

justice justice this is how it has to be

and there's no tolerance for anything

and there's a higher levels of judgment

right in a political spectrum that would

mean moving more to the right right that

would be more of a characteristic of

moving to the right because you're

you're moving more into order

you know stronger and stronger into

order but the more you move in and

get centralized in that without a look

toward grace and mercy the more you move

to the just the lower law and you can't

live that way and you can't have a

society that works that way and the

gospel doesn't work that way that

doesn't mean the commandments aren't

essential all the time they are because

we're trying to become like the Savior

but if we tighten ourselves down

into that and lose sight of the other

side of that then we've got a problem

and the same thing works from the other

side right I can go out there and that's

much more of a movement today and in our

society as a whole and in the church is

well we'll tolerate everything you know

tolerate this will tolerate that we

don't judge anything we don't judge

anybody live and let live right and

certainly to a certain degree you want

to have something like that in the

church to a certain degree there is the

idea of repentance there is the idea of

grace and charity and love for those

that make mistakes for example or that

have a hard time with things but I can

carry that too far as well right I can

just say I'm going to tolerate

everything and why is this bad and why

is that bad and then I've got that

conflict right I've got moved one over

one way too far so I've got to be able

to keep them both together that's the

higher and the lower laws I've got to

work with both of those and the reason

we have those of you think about it

right is creation you have to have that

those are two elements

creation and that's creating ourselves

in the plan of salvation we need justice

and we need mercy and grace you got to

have both of those so Alma doesn't know

what to do with all these dissenters

within the church right there's a

problem

what do you tolerate what don't you

tolerate he takes him to Messiah who is

also it looks like his spiritual

superior in the fluid hierarchy here and

in the priesthood and Messiah says I'm

not doing this I'm gonna take

responsibility for secular things you

take responsibility within the church

we know that today that's a good way to

go and so Alma pours out his soul and

learns that there has to be a line drawn

right you know you want to love

everybody and even when they're

dissenting you want to lower yourself to

their level and pull them up but a lot

of times the further you go with that

you're not helping them at all and

you're and you're harming the church so

there is a line that needs to be drawn

the Lord responds to Alma who pours out

a soul and he says he that will be here

my voice shall be my sheep and him shall

ye receive into the church and him will

I also receive for behold this is my

church whosoever is baptized shall be

baptized unto repentance and whomsoever

you receive shall believe in my name and

him will I freely forgive so in other

words mistakes are going to come around

and that's where we don't want to lean

too far to the judgment side but there's

got to be a spirit of repentance right

there's got to be penitence there and

it's interesting he says here whoever is

baptized shall be baptized unto

repentance so when we get baptized we're

kind of taking that on right that were

being baptized in his name so we're

taking on the name of the Lord the name

of Jesus Christ and we're making a

covenant and so if we're going to live a

sinful life or we're not going to be in

an attitude of repentance then we're not

really taking his name on anymore

right we are taking his name in vain

at that point and so then it gets the

Lord gets pretty harsh about this right

he's saying look if you if you have

somebody that's gonna make mistakes I've

paid for their sins I will forgive them

if they are repentant but if they're not

he says that he that will not hear my

voice the same shall ye not receive into

my church for him I will not receive at

the last day right so there's a line

there is a line there has to be aligned

right there has to be something that is

defined we've talked about this things

that are defined have a boundary a

definition and those that want to

misplace sympathy which is a very easy

thing to do

it's understandable right that want to

get rid of the boundary that causes a

real problem that's not the Lord's way

he says that right here there are

boundaries but again in 38 and as often

as my people repent he emphasizes this I

will forgive them their transit

trespasses against me and he says and he

shall also forgive one another your

trespasses

right the forgiveness right that's the

new char that we've talked about that is

you bear each other's burdens and you

forgive each other that's how that

spiritual economy works within the

church and he says that he that

forgiveth not his neighbor's trespasses

in other words if you're leaning toward

that full-on judgment side right when he

says that he repents the same hath

brought himself under condemnation so

again if we can think about the

transaction here the debt right if we

don't forgive somebody else who is

repentant then that sin falls upon us in

a way it moves over to us that debt

falls to us it's been relieved for them

but now it moves to us now one thing

that's interesting here is that when the

Lord is speaking with Alma he tells him

this here in verse 20 he says thou art

my servant we've talked about servant

and I covenant with thee that thou shalt

have eternal life and thou shalt serve

me and go forth and

and shall gather together my sheep so

Alma has sacrificed so much and has been

put in a position of absolute trust with

the Lord think about that right it seems

to me that you know where Trust is

that's what faith is right that's what I

believe faith is it's just plain and

simply it is trust and as we lean more

on the Lord and we develop our trust in

him that's the key right then eventually

we get to a point where not only our

knowledge increases to a more perfect

knowledge but it seems like that faith

or that trust gets so great at one point

that it actually comes back to us and

that's what seems to be happening here

is where the Lord is saying I trust you

and therefore thou shalt have eternal

life you will have exaltation right

you're calling an election made sure

this is how the Lord explains it in

section 132 verse 49 he says for I am

the Lord thy God and I will be with thee

even unto the end of the world it's a

good thing to know and through all

eternity for verily I seal upon you your

exaltation I mean what an incredible

thing to hear write and prepare a throne

for you in the kingdom of my father with

Abraham your father now why does he

bring up Abraham here well remember that

the new and everlasting covenant is also

called the Abrahamic covenant he is the

icon in many cases outside of the savior

of the Melchizedek priesthood of the

new ever and everlasting covenant of the

higher law and of the sealing power we

have Elijah of course and other

Melchizedek prophets that represent this

but it's Abraham who is the father right

though though his seed is going to go

throughout the earth

and convert the earth or preach the

gospel to the earth at least and those

that come into that and are sealed or of

the seed of Abraham either literally or

figuratively we think about the parable

that Jesus gives about the rich man and

Lazarus remember that the rich man

the Lazarus is a poor beggar right and

he's with the dogs and the rich man

lives us great life and Lazarus does not

but in the end after the resurrection

its Lazarus who where does he go he goes

to the bosom of Abraham

why Abraham in that parable because the

understanding of the doctrine the

doctrine is that that is the icon of the

new and everlasting covenant that's who

he will be sealed to you under that

covenant and that is exaltation and

eternal life so that's what it says

right here in section 132 and then we

get over to chapter 27 here and I'm

going to go through the first few verses

here because there's a couple of

important principles I think that we

glean out of this it says here a little

by the way look at the beginning of the

chapter summary the way that Bruce R

McConkie and his team have put it they say

Mosiah forbids persecution and enjoins

equality right well what does that mean

equality it means that everybody will be

treated the same is what that means you

don't want to corrupt that word the

meaning of the word first one says and

now it came to pass at the persecutions

which were inflicted on the church by

the unbelievers became so great that the

church began to murmur so fastest turns

and to complain to their leaders

concerning the matter and they did

complain to Alma and Alma laid the case

before their King was I and Mosiah

consulted with his priests again here

Mosiah

is the one really in charge and so what

does Messiah do after he consults he

comes up to pull a council together and

let's go over this right he says and it

came to pass that King Uzziah sent a

proclamation throughout the land

roundabout that there should not any

believer persecute any of those who

belonged to the Church of God so this is

a new law that is put into place right

it's kind of like Moses first amendment

which is such an important part of any

civilization that's going to really

succeed right the more open we are up or

we're not tightened down into our own

religious beliefs to the point that we

want to make everybody do the same thing

right where you have that strong of a

theocracy theocracy that's where you

have problems right you're not opened up

you're not tolerant enough but here it's

in defense of the church that he goes

out and says look everybody needs to

allow everyone who is a member of the

church to preach freely and not be

persecuted because of their religion and

I would imagine it would it would go

both ways right and we can see this for

example in the Muslim world right our

good brothers and sisters in the Muslim

countries when they are in a position

where they are very very strict on their

own rules and don't allow for the

freedom of religion for other religions

that in and of itself becomes a problem

in their prosperity you can take a look

at when the Ottomans or others were more

in a position of being a little bit more

liberal in that sense of tolerating

other religions and other people's then

they flourished but any society that

does that right that that really clamps

down and doesn't offer others the

freedom of religion our more our most

core beliefs that is not conducive to

prosperity too much closure too much

rigidness and verse three says and there

was a strict command throughout all the

churches that there should be no

persecutions among them there should be

an equality among all men right again

it's not forcing equality that's not

what is being said it's saying if you're

part of this group as compared to part

of this group then everybody is equal we

offer that's freedom is what it's

offering it's liberty

to pursue your own religion in verse 4

that they should let no pride nor

haughtiness disturb their peace that

every man should esteem his neighbor as

himself laboring with their own hands

for their support right it's the Golden

Rule it's very simple the golden rule is

one of the core principles of the

success of the West

it really is we're far far from perfect

with it obviously we're very far from

perfect for it felt for it but it is

that respect for individualism is a core

part of Western thought not that we've

got all of the best thoughts right the

East has a lot too but that is an

important one now all of this

persecution that's coming from these

dissenters right who are some of these

dissenters well you actually have Alma's

son who falls into this trap Alma’s son

right he wasn't even around for King

Benjamin speech but the sons of Mosiah

as well have fallen into this again that

generation gap oh you know my parents

think this and they're the leaders but

we don't believe anything that they're

gonna say right that generation gap is

really strong you can see that here

having Mosiah

and alma themselves both losing their

kids here to the dissenters it says that

Alma the younger became a very wicked

and an idolatrous man and he was a man

of many words and did speak much

flattery to the people therefore he laid

he led many of the people to do after

the manner of his iniquities obviously I

mean what you have an agenda like that

it's very difficult to turn somebody

it's not just a matter of a passive you

know I don't care about this I'm not

gonna follow this and so we get a little

bit more about him here in verse 10 it

says and now it came to pass that while

he was going about to destroy the Church

of God right that is his aim

or 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

he's subverting all of the efforts of

Mosiah and Alma he'd imagined how

tumultuous this would make things how

difficult this would be and as they're

going about doing this an angel of the

Lord appears unto them and descends as

it were in a cloud right we see this off

and think of Paul right I think of who

Paul who I saw on his way to Damascus

and the visit that he gets very similar

this happens this intervention happens

sometimes and he spake as if it were

with a voice of thunder which caused the

earth to shake upon which they stood and

so great was their astonishment that

they fell to the earth and understood

not the words which he spake unto them

and it seems to happen a lot with these

angelic visitations right even with a

savior right when he comes to visit the

Lamanites and Nephites in Bountiful as

he's descending it's not until the third

time that they even hear the voice

properly it's like if there's that

spiritual gap at first that just has to

be pierced the veil isn't quite open

enough and so he does something really

interesting here this angel he says to

Alma our rise and stand forth for why

persecutest thou the Church of God stand

up and talk to me

for the Lord hath said this is my church

and I will establish it and nothing

shall overthrow it save it is the

transgression of my people it's

interesting that this gets put in here

right by Alma or a Mormon but that's the

truth right the church is never going to

be overthrown except for the

transgression of the church and that's

what has happened every single time

since the beginning of history the

church always Falls it always falls we

don't like to hear that but it does it

always falls into transfer

we're told this time around it won't for

whatever reason but that doesn't mean

we're not going to battle with it that

doesn't mean that there's not going to

be a rough go of it and the angel says

again to him the Lord hath heard the

prayers of his people and also the

prayers of his servant Alma who is thy

father spiritual economy here right it's

it's Alma's prayer and sacrifice and

probably fasting and concern that

finally helps bring the power of heaven

down in a very adamant way here with

Alma the younger and he's not praying

for his son Alma the younger to be

forced to do something although this is

this is pretty powerful here it says

here he prayed with much faith

concerning thee that thou mightest be

brought to the knowledge of the truth

that's it that you'll be brought up to

that point where you have that knowledge

now now for whatever reason because you

have turned and dissented you've lost

the knowledge that's what happens right

once you disobey that much and you go

started going down that path you lose

the knowledge and so his father is just

asking that he be brought back to that

point and then of course his agency is

still there he can do what he wants with

it

so the angel continues and says for this

purpose have I come to convince the of

the power and authority of God that the

prayers of his servants might be

answered according to their faith that's

powerful it's really powerful it's not

just a visit to Alma here it is the

response to a prayer from his father he

brings something really interesting up

here in verse 16 he says go and remember

the captivity of thy fathers in the land

of helium right it's like do you know

what your father did do you know what he

went through and in the land of Nephi

right where he was previously and

remember how great things he has done

for them for they were in bondage and he

has delivered them right part of losing

the knowledge is starting to not

remember

things those blessings that are given to

us remembering who we are remembering

that the Lord does intervene and does

watch over us and then he says something

that goes right back to that at that

point of free agency he says and now I

see into the Alma go thy way and seek to

destroy the church no more so I'm gonna

leave telling you that do not continue

to go down this path that their prayers

may be answered and this even if thou

wilt of those I self be cast off ooh

it's like don't keep doing this I am

warning you now if you still want to not

join yourself to the Savior to the

church and the Covenant path fine that's

still your choice you be cast off if

that's what you choose to do but do not

continue to persecute the church I think

that's really powerful even in that

moment right it's not a god or a

messenger who's making you do something

he's simply doing what his father had

asked being brought to the knowledge and

then he has to make the choice for

himself of course we can think about

that for ourselves right are we going

down the right path is there something

that's a mess are we willing to move

toward being cast off do we push

ourselves away from that knowledge so

that we don't remember and so therefore

it becomes easier to continue with

certain behaviors or beliefs because

once it's brought to light which we

don't want oftentimes but once we face

up to it we know there's pain there we

know there's change it's just getting

through that that we have to look at by

the way this angel is going to return to

Alma later on when he is about to meet

with Amulek so remember this this

will be the same messenger that comes

back to him later in his life kind of

cool so Alma and those are with him they

all fall of the year

in astonishment and the astonishment is

so great that Elma is struck dumb right

he can't open his mouth he becomes very

weak couldn't move his hands and so he

was taken by those that were with him

and carried helplessly even until he was

laid before his father again something

something similar to what Paul went

through and so Alma causes that he and

the priest come together and they start

fasting and praying for him and here's

where we get to me some of the most

beautiful parts of scripture that there

is and this to me is one of the greatest

stories and some of the greatest words

in all of Scripture so after a couple of

days

Alma the younger receives his strength

back and he says in this time that he's

gone through this it must have been

absolute hell he says I have repented of

my sins and have been redeemed of the

Lord think of the incredible change that

has happened with this man for behold I

am born of the Spirit he is a new

creature and the Lord said unto me

Marvel not that all mankind gay men and

women all nations Kindred's tongues and

people's must be born again we all have

to be new creatures a born of God

changed from their carnal and fallen

state to a state of righteousness being

redeemed of God and becoming his sons

and daughters okay so that's going right

back to Obinna dies talking about how

the Savior is our Father when we accept

him and the redemption plays a part in

her lives and thus they become new

creatures and unless they do this they

can in no wise inherit the kingdom of

God so just like we are born into

mortality with a body we have got to be

born of God to move on to the next life

that makes a lot of sense he says I say

unto you unless this be the case they

must be cast off and this I know because

I was like to be cast off so he knows

what this is all about and he doesn't

want anybody else to go through it

I would imagine nevertheless after

wading through much tribulation

repenting nigh into death the Lord in

mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of

an everlasting burning and I am born of

God my soul hath been redeemed from the

gall of bitterness and the bonds of

iniquity I was in the darkest abyss but

now I behold the marvelous light of God

my soul was wracked with eternal torment

but I am snatched and my soul is pained

no more I rejected my Redeemer and

denied that which had been spoken of by

our fathers but now that they may

foresee that he will come and that he

remembers every creature of his creating

he will make himself manifest unto all

again what is this leading back to the

dissenters have lost the doctrine of

Christ what is the knowledge that he is

hit smack in the face with here it is

the doctrine of Christ and he

understands it is the acceptance of God

at the very core of the Son of God that

is that issue here and he is reconciled

to the son to Jesus Christ and

reconciled to his father and he says

everybody has got to do the same thing

and so as we fall from God both

physically and spiritually in this

mortality we all do right we all have to

be born again of him to return to Him

and that has everything to do with a

knee whore principle and losing the

doctrine of Christ and regaining that

doctrine and that knowledge it's crucial

and so they become Alma the younger and

the sons of Mosiah become instruments in

the hands of the Lord and they go out

and they preach the gospel and then we

this is what Mormon gives us here he

says in 36 and 37 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

that is the key and then think about

Isaiah 52 7 to 10

and the whole story of a Benin died here

he says in 37 and how blessed are they

for they did publish peace they did

publish good tidings of good and they

did declare unto the people that the

Lord reigneth right that is Isaiah right

there the whole everything that was at

issue with a Ben and I and King Noah

that's pretty cool right he's following

through on this theme of Isaiah 52 7

having to do exactly with Jesus Christ

and then capping things up here in

chapter 28 we get in verse 3 something

that becomes very important to Alma and

the sons of Mosiah now they were

desirous that salvation should be

declared to every creature for they

could not bear that any human soul

should perish so again what do we get

here we have faith in the Lord Jesus

Christ now we have a hope that is very

different a different state of mind for

Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah

and what is it that comes out of them

from that it is an immense amount of

charity toward every individual right

that is how that process and formula

work attributable progression yeah even

that the very thoughts that any soul

should endure endless torment did cause

them to quake and tremble they've been

through it right they don't want that

for anyone they don't want it for you

and they don't want it for me there are

consequences and so Alma and the sons of

Mosiah desire to go off and preach to

the Lamanites they don't care about

anything else that's what they want and

that is that part of Covenant that is so

important to write we got the same thing

with Enos we get the same thing with

Nephi and many of the prophets are it's

it's outlined very specifically for us

that's their desire and that's

why the Gentiles are a part of that of

the greater covenant because as that

faith grows and that hope grows then the

charity

rose to all of our fellow men and women

to all of the family of God and that

requires the higher law and it requires

the Melchizedek Priesthood to make it

whole and so because of this Messiah has

nobody to give the kingship to and so

Alma becomes the chief judge and he

takes all of the artifacts right

probably of the temple the sort of Laban

the Liahona the plates of brass the

plates of the record the record of

Zenith the record of Alma the 24 gold

plates that he has translated through

the gift of being a seer with the Urim

and Thummim right again the Jaredites

are always inserted here throughout the

book of Mormon they're a big part of

their culture and their doctrine and

their story and their doctrine

their experiences become a part of the

Nephites and an abridgment of that is

the book of ether it's not all of it but

in a Bridgman of that maybe of the stone

right that was given to Grandpa was I

originally as well and it's a record

that reminded them of what was going to

happen if they lost the doctrine of

Christ and turned to iniquity right

there they're annihilated everybody's

annihilated when you have the doctrine

of Christ at the top of your values

hierarchy then you prosper and there is

life when you remove it then everything

starts to crumble so how important is

this written history that we have how

important is it that the starting with

Lehi right we end up with this record

and the Jared Knights and that Zenith

and that Alma have all written these

things all the way down until Moroni how

important is it that we have the records

of the Bible that we have what Joseph

Smith has produced through the

translation of the Book of Abraham and

with the Doctrine and Covenants and

everything in the pearl of great price

most people throughout all of history

have not had that history available to

them they would have it in the form of

story they would have it in

a form of poems and chorus and song and

dance and dramas but not like we have it

we can flip a page scroll up and down

and we've got everything that we want I

think that's a higher level of

accountability so he gathers all of

these records and the Urim and Thummim

and gives them to Alma Alma has now got

that call it right he is now the seer

and we get that mentioned in here by

Mormon because again it's important to

understand this handing down of these

things remember it's not just the Book

of Mormon that Joseph Smith ends up with

from Moroni right inside that stone

blocks are all of the artifacts all of

them and so it's important to understand

that what he's talking about right here

in going back to the page summary 92 BC

ish is the same items these are the

same items that Joseph Smith ends up

with and that's what's so peculiar about

the Book of Mormon is that it is handed

down from profit to profit to profit to

profit all the way from Moroni to Joseph

Smith that makes it very unique among

ancient Scripture and so Mormon walks us

through another few chapters here the

experiences of Alma and Alma the younger

and Messiah and the sons of Mosiah and

teaches us so many things as he takes

all of these records and abridges them

and puts them into a consistent

spiritual edifying narrative

I'll talk to you next time

 

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