Sunday, April 24, 2011
(32)
An Account of Alma and the people of the Lord, who were driven into the wilderness by the people of King Noah... Mosiah 23:1-2 "Now Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah. And the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them." I think it is fair to say that we have also been continuously warned by the Lord of the armies that are come up against us. Ever General Conference we are warned about Satan and his armies. Do we also take heed and flee from the danger when directed? If we do, the Lord will similarly strengthen us so that the armies of those that seek to destroy cannot overtake us.
(33) Mosiah 23:9 "But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance." Isn't it interesting how Alma terms it "sore repentance." Repentance was and is not meant to be comfortable or easy. I think it is the "soreness" of it all that makes it a true true repentance.
(34) Mosiah 23:21 "Nevertheless, the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." Even when we are living righteously we are not exempt from tribulation. It is the way that our faith is tried so that it may continue to grow.
(35) Mosiah 27:9 Discusses Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah, but mostly Alma the younger. In verse 8 it says that "he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people," Verse 9 goes on to say, "And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissention among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them." I find it interesting that the word "chance" is used here. The only way that Satan was able to gain power over an individual was if that person chose to enable him to be able to exercise his power over them. Alma could not give Satan power over all the people, but only a chance at that power. It is the same thing now. If we feel that Satan is exercising power over our own individual lives, it is only because we are allowing him to do so.
(36) Mosiah 27:29 An angel of the Lord has just appeared to Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. "And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore, he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father." Laman and Lemuel also had angels appear to them, yet that never resulted in any permanent change. Why do you think it is that the appearance of an angel to Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah had such a lasting and positive effect on them, and not on Laman and Lemuel?
(37) Alma 1:30 This verse lists a lot of Godlike qualities that we should strive towards. "And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need."
(38) Alma 4:11-13 "Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people. Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted. Now this was a great cause for lamentation among the people, while others were
abasing themselves..." This word (abasing) comes in part from the Latin word that means to lower in stature. The righteous, then, were willing to be lowered in their worldly stature, I think, to be made equal with Christ (I am probably not wording this very well). If we remember correctly, Christ did not gain very high regard from the world, but he did from the poor, needy, and afflicted, because it was to them that he administered. If we are to become Christlike, we must do the same and not forget to be humble.
(39) Alma 4:14 "Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power of deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death." I just found it ironic that I would read this verse for Easter. Also, I was thinking about this the other night at the Relief Society meeting we had for my ward where we went to the Temple Visitor's Center. While we were there, we watched the movie
Lamb of God. There is a part in that movie that shows Pilot asking the people, essentially, who he should release from death: Barabbas or Jesus Christ. Truly, Barabbus probably deserved to die (we read in the New Testament that he was not really a great guy. The Bible Dictionary says that he was an insurrectionist and a robber), but because Jesus was chosen to be crucified, he was thus released of his bands and set free from prison. Through the Atonement, Christ has offered to do the same for all of us.
Labels: Book of Mormon, Easter, Holiday, Svithe
