Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 13–16 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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Alma 13–16 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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  Hello there. My name is Tyler Griffin and
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  this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture Central today, Alma
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  13 through 16. These particular chapters have
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  some very, very difficult story elements in them.
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  And before we dive in and, and try to work our way through some
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  of these these difficult chapters, I want to discuss very
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  carefully a lifelong learning overlay that might make a
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  difference for some of you in finding greater breadth or
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  greater depth in your scripture study or in your teaching and
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  your ability to interact with scriptures.
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  So remember that we've talked in the past about 3 distinct layers
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  of, of our scriptures. There's, there's three worlds, 3
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  dimensions, if you will. There's the world under the
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  scripture page, the world that created these scriptures, hence
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  the shape of AU here. We, we could even put it, you
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  know, underground level. It's a, it's the basement, the
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  foundation that upholds these scriptures.
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  Then you have the world that lives on the scripture page,
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  hence the shape of an O here the the walls and the floors of this
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  house structure. And then you have the world that
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  is created above the scripture page.
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  The world you and I live in the, the world that we get
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  interpretation from prophets, Sears, and revelators, where we
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  get teachers and leaders and parents telling how we can live
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  our life. You'll notice these 3 dimensions
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  or these three aspects of our scripture study, they're all
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  related. I want to focus as we cover Alma
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  13 through 16 today. I want to focus on this middle
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  layer, this world that resides on the scripture page there.
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  There are a lot more than just words on that Scripture page.
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  Those words contain people and stories and examples and
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  teachings. But embedded within all of that
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  are principles and doctrines, teachings, truths.
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  Probably the simplest way to describe them would be that word
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  right there. Truths, the Savior has said, if
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  you know the truth, the truth will make you free.
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  It's it's powerful when you can unlock true principles, true
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  doctrines from black words on a white page that come to us from
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  these worlds in the past. So when we look for ways to to
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  better identify those truths or those principles and doctrines
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  that are going to be the most beneficial to us, the most
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  applicable to this world that we're talking about putting a
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  roof over our head in this little analogy of a house fitly
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  frame together the there are a couple of guiding ideas here.
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  Number one, the the teaching that we're looking for ought to
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  be an eternal truth. In other words, it's not a
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  situational truth. It's something that's true
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  regardless of who you are, where you live, what your situation is
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  in life, or any of these external factors.
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  So the more eternal in nature that truth is, the more
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  powerfully it has the capacity to to change our lives.
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  Another thing is is to to look for is to what degree does it
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  guide our attitudes, our beliefs, our behaviors?
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  To what degree does it guide us or direct us in how to live our
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  life, how we think, how we talk, how we, how we treat people?
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  Because you can see that there might be some eternal truths or
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  things that are just absolutely true, but they don't really
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  change how we live our life. So they become less applicable
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  or less relevant to us. So we're trying to look for
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  those things. The other factor that I would
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  recommend we're looking for is that eventually, either directly
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  or indirectly, it puts a focus on Jesus Christ.
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  It's somehow these eternal truths that are applicable or
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  able to guide us. They should at 1° or another
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  help us see our connecting points or our abilities to
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  connect with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  So let me give a couple of examples here and see what you
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  think if these would fit this description of, of guiding
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  principles or, or doctrines, the these big applicable, relevant
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  truths that we're looking for in Scriptures.
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  So I'll give you some some silly examples to to illustrate the
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  point. First one, what do you think
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  about this statement? Glazed doughnuts are the best.
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  Now for some of you watching, you may say, Yep, that is a true
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  principle because you think Glee's Donuts are the best, when
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  in reality that's a statement of opinion.
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  It's not eternally true for everybody across time.
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  It isn't something that is going to guide our behavior to help us
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  think celestial or to help us come closer to Jesus Christ or,
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  or to build that connection with him.
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  It's a statement of opinion. So what happens?
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  I'm using some of these as as silly examples to prove this
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  point, that often if we're not careful, we'll go into our
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  scripture reading. We'll identify a principle
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  that's on the level of personal opinion or group opinion even.
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  You might have a whole bunch of people around you who agree with
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  you, but if it's opinion, it won't guide that belief and
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  behavior. The second statement, you should
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  never put your elbows on the table when you're eating.
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  Now, some of you are thinking to yourself, yeah, yeah, that's a
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  that's a good principle. But the reality is, is that's
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  just a statement of situational etiquette.
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  It's not a true principle or a truth that is true across all
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  cultures and time. It's something that a a group in
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  more modern society has decided, OK, it's proper etiquette to not
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  put your elbows on the table when you're eating.
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  So sometimes we take cultural norms and we then insert them
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  into our reading of the scriptures.
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  So we'll take things from this world that we're living in right
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  now and we superimpose them into the scripture page.
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  And we might even superimpose them even further down into
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  that, that lower level into the world that is underlying or
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  undergirding the scripture, the world in which the scriptures
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  were created. And that's not always helpful.
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  So we need to let that world be that world that created these
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  scriptures and figure out what those scriptures are trying to
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  teach us so that we can apply them in in our life and
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  situation today, not based on cultural norms or cultural
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  statements of etiquette. How about this one prayer?
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  Prayer is not a a principle statement.
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  It's a topic. It's a really good topic.
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  But in order for it to become a principle, it would be a
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  statement, something like God hears and answers every prayer.
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  Now that's a principle. That's an eternal truth.
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  It doesn't matter who you are, where you live, or what your
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  situation is. That is true.
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  It will guide you and it will help bring more connection with
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  Christ. But just a simple topic all by
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  itself isn't a principle or or a a guiding truth.
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  How about this one? God never lets bad things happen
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  to righteous people. That's a hope, but it's not an
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  eternal truth because you can find multiple examples in the
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  Scriptures of where some people have faced incredible opposition
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  and incredibly difficult things that have happened to them
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  precisely because they chose to be righteous, which is one of
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  the things we're going to see in our scriptures today in these
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  chapters. So here's the point with this
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  one. We need to be careful that we
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  don't take our own hopes, our own desires, our own perceptions
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  of what is eternal eternally true, and then superimpose them
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  over a scripture experience or a scripture teaching to try to
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  force the scriptures to fit into the the preconceived box that
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  we've created for them. It's a powerful thing to go in
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  to our scripture reading with a prayer in our heart that the
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  Lord will guide us to learn the lessons that we need to learn to
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  be able to walk away with applicable eternal truths that
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  will connect us with the Savior and that will will guide our
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  attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors moving forward.
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  So with that foundation, as we go through together and as you
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  study on your own chapters 131415 and 16 of Alma, I would
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  invite you to slow down a little bit and ask the question, what
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  principles, what doctrines, what eternal truths am I learning
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  from this part of the story? And it's worth that time to to
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  identify those. One of the techniques that might
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  help you get started on this journey of identifying and
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  better understanding deeper principles contained in the
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  Scriptures would be to start with a simple if blank then
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  blank exercise. So you create an if then
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  statement. So as you read through some of
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  these passages, you, you start filling in those blanks in ways
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  that would help guide your, your life and the decisions that
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  you're making. So let's practice this.
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  Let's go through a couple of examples here, starting in
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  chapter 13. So we're picking up the story.
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  Alma and Amalek are still in Amanihah.
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  The people are really struggling.
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  It's a wicked society who have fully adopted the doctrine of
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  Nihor taught back in Alma chapter one.
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  They are embodying Nihor's ideals, so they don't believe
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  there's any such thing as sin or wickedness or a need to repent.
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  There's no mention of Jesus Christ or a need for an
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  atonement from their perspective.
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  And here are Alma and Amalek preaching to them of those very
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  things, their need to repent and their wicked state and the fact
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  that they're going to be destroyed.
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  So here in chapter 13, Alma starts teaching them about the
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  order of God, the priesthood, the power of God-given to human
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  beings on the earth to act in the name of God for the
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  salvation of His children. And he opens in verse one by
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  saying again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to
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  the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto His
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  children. And I would that you should
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  remember that the Lord God ordained priests after His holy
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  order, which was after the order of His Son to teach these things
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  unto the people. Now some of you might be
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  wondering why would Elma want to teach the the wicked people of
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  Amaniah about the order of God, about the priesthood, about
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  Melchizedek at being a high priest and and Abraham paying
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  ties to him? Why would why would he be
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  teaching them that? It's a really good question.
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  I I don't know for sure because he never tells us exactly the
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  rationale or the reason why, but he mentions in a couple of
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  places here in this chapter that they have the scriptures before
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  them. They are a learned people.
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  They know how to read their their, they know the stories
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  from the brass plates, or at least some of them.
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  And it makes you wonder if Alma is aware of the fact that in
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  Emaniah, for whatever reason, they've keyed in on
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  Melchizedek's story, if that culture, that society knows his
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  story well. And so he's using that as an
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  example. And he jumped right in, in verse
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  one by talking about this holy order was given to teach these
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  things unto the people, almost as if to say, see, I am coming
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  to you by the power of this same priesthood that you're aware of,
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  ordained after the order of God to preach these things unto the
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  people. And then you described how the
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  priests were ordained in verse two.
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  They were ordained after the order of His Son in a manner
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  that thereby the people might know in what manner to look
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  forward to his Son for redemption.
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  So now back to our little example of principles of
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  doctrines, of truths, whatever you want to call them.
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  It's less important the label you put on them, and it's much
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  more important the ability to allow these things to sink deep
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  into our soul so they become a part of us.
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  So if you look at verse one and two and we try to come up with
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  an if then statement, there are a variety of ways to do this.
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  There's no one right answer here.
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  One if then could be if I understand the priesthood, then
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  I will know in what manner to look forward to the sun for
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  redemption. Or if I function after the
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  manner that the Lord intended in any priesthood abilities, then I
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  am going to be able to help connect people and bring people
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  to the sun looking for redemption.
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  I'll be able to connect them with with Christ.
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  Those are just a couple of little examples.
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  You can come up with simpler and more powerful statements than
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  those if you pause and and reflect on your own life
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  circumstances, your own life situation, and find ways to more
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  powerfully connect with the Lord.
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  Look at verse 3. This is the manner after which
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  they were ordained, being called and prepared from the foundation
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  of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account
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  of their exceeding faith and good works, in the 1st place,
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  being left to choose good or evil.
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  Therefore, they, having chosen good and exercising exceedingly
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  great faith, are called with a holy calling.
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  Yeah, with that holy calling which was prepared with and
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  according to a preparatory redemption for such.
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  If we try our if then principle here, we could say if I choose
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  good and if I exercise exceedingly great faith, if I
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  choose God, then God will empower me.
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  I don't need to wait for years and years.
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  In fact, it's best if I don't wait until tomorrow or next year
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  to choose to abound in good works.
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  It's best to make that choice today, in fact, not just today.
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  It's best to make that choice right now in our heart, in our
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  mind, to turn them more completely heavenward to say,
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  Lord, I, I want to be on thy errand.
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  I want to live my life for thee, not for me.
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  That is the whole essence of this order of the Son of God,
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  the the power of the priesthood that's given to God's children
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  to do God's work. It's it's greatest power is
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  manifest right now as we do these things moving forward.
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  Let's jump down to verse five, part way through the verse that
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  says thus this holy calling being prepared from the
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  foundation of the world for such as would not harden their
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  hearts. In other words, God has in store
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  blessings and powers prepared from the foundation of the world
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  long before we were born. God has these opportunities
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  prepared for us, but it's totally dependent upon our use
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  of agency. If we choose not to harden our
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  hearts being and how does this happen?
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  It's being in and through the atonement of the only begotten
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  Son who was prepared. So it's through the atonement of
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  Jesus Christ that all these things are prepared for us.
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  If we choose not to harden our hearts, but to accept Him, to
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  repent, to turn to Him, then He will give us those blessings.
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  So again, the simple statement of truth or principle, if I
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  choose not to harden my heart today, then the Lord will give
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  me some of these blessings or more access to those blessings
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  that He has prepared from before the foundation of the world, but
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  are contingent upon my appropriate use of agency.
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  Now he goes on to describe the High Priesthood in verse 7.
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  This high priesthood being after the order of his son, which
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  order was from the foundation of the world, or in other words,
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  being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared
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  from eternity to all eternity according to his foreknowledge
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  of all things. So it's not just that it was
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  prepared before the foundation world, it's that it has power
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  long after the ending of this celestial world that we live on
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  today and into the eternities. It will no no end.
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  And yet everything that the devil offers us or everything
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  that the society or the culture of the world tries to influence
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  our lives with, with those things, they don't last.
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  They aren't without beginning of days or end of years.
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  They're very temporal in nature. Hence the beauty of this chapter
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  to help us think celestial, as President Nelson said, to to get
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  above the the mortal blinders that we often have on and to be
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  able to see things with greater clarity and therefore act
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  accordingly. And when I say act accordingly,
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  I don't mean act tomorrow or the next day.
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  I mean right now. We we start making those changes
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  in our attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, words, treatment of
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  others and are are the way we look at God.
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  It makes adjustments in the moment as we're making those
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  those realizations off of the scripture page.
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  We we can start applying those principles right away and then
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  continue to apply them over time.
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  Jump down to verse nine and he says thus they become high
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  priests forever after the order of the Son, the only begotten of
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  the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of
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  years, who is full of grace, equity and truth.
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  And thus it is Amen. So Alma is finishing this
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  portion of his address to the people of M and I have with and
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  thus it is Amen. It's this powerful testimony.
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  Another technique you could try when seeking to identify and
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  better understand these principles or eternal truths
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  would be to take at the end of a scripture block that you've read
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  and write this. And thus we see that and then
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  fill in the blank, summarize the truths that you've read in, in
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  this case, in the 1st 9 verses. To be able to take all of it and
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  boil it down into a simple statement of truth.
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  A simple statement of principle that is eternally true, that has
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  the ability to guide you, and that is focused on the Lord
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  Jesus Christ to 1° or another. That is a powerful exercise.
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  It, it will do a couple of things for you.
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  One, it will help your mind and your heart stay focused as
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  you're reading through. Because if you know you're going
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  to be doing that, it's harder for your mind to wander and it's
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  easier for it to stay focused on the scripture page, on those
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  words, to be processing them, thinking more deeply, more more
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  intentionally, instead of treating our scripture study is
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  just something I need to do to in order to check a box to say,
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  yeah, I dutifully read my scriptures.
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  Today. Scripture study becomes this
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  incredible quest. Every day we open them with
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  excitement for what we get to discover afresh each new day.
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  And, and it never gets old because we can never get to the,
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  to the bottom of everything that the Lord has to offer us on
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  these pages. So one, it helps us stay more
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  focused in our scripture study, in our learning, in our
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  teaching, in our leading. And two, it helps us then once
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  we've read those passages or those verses, it helps us then
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  reflect and turn heavenward with a prayer in our heart.
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  Heavenly Father, what would thou have me learn from these
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  teachings? What would thou have me gain?
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  What, what could I do differently based on what I
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  read? And something like A and thus we
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  see exercise or an if, then exercise helps create more
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  purpose and more applicable function to that scripture study
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  so that we can actually try a little harder to be a little
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  better to become a little more Christ like in in our lives.
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  So let's continue Alma's speech to these people in Ammaniha
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  about the holy priesthood, about this order of God, and look at
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  some of the other qualifiers that will help us better
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  understand that priesthood and that ability that God has given
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  to to human beings on this earth to act in His name.
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  Look at verse 11. Therefore, they were called
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  after this holy order and were sanctified and their garments
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  were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
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  And then he goes on to say in verse 12.
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  Now they after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their
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  garments made white, being pure and spotless before God could
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  not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence and there were
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  exceeding exceedingly great many who were made pure and entered
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  into the rest of the Lord their God.
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  Now this is these two verses that they're very aspirational.
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  They're they're big picture. They're painting this this image
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  in our mind of people who are wholly pure.
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  Their garments have been washed white.
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  They look upon sin with with abhorrence.
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  This is a beautiful set of attributes to seek for and to
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  strive to emulate. And then notice his call to
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  action in verse 13. And now my brethren, I would
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  that ye should humble yourselves before God and bring forth
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  fruit, meet for repentance that ye also enter, that ye may also
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  enter into that rest. So putting this into a statement
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  of principle, we could say if I choose to humble myself before
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  God and repent, then God will allow me to enter into his rest.
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  That is a true statement. It doesn't matter who you are,
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  how old you are, what your gender is, what your nationality
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  is, what language you speak, what your life situation is.
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  That is a truth. It's a true principle, and it
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  will guide your behavior and it will connect you with God and
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  with Jesus Christ. Verse 14, He, he repeats it.
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  Yeah, humble yourselves even as the day, even as the people in
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  the days of Melchizedek, who's also a high priest, after the
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  same order, which I have spoken. So now he's invoking
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  Melchizedek's people and Melchizedek's experience with
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  this group in Ammaniha. And by extension, you and I now
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  have the option or the the ability to apply all of these
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  teachings to us today instead of reading it as a history lesson
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  of just a foundational story about a group of people in a in
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  a particular city named Ammonia over 2000 years ago.
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  We can say, wait a minute, this is my story.
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  This is our story. And our prophets are giving us
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  the same invitations today as Alma is giving those people back
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  then in that setting. So he then describes
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  Melchizedek's role, verse 17. Now this Melchizedek was a king
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  over the land of Salem. It's interesting if you look at
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  the word Salem, it's rooted with the Hebrew word Shalom or peace.
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  You'll see Salem in the name of Jerusalem today, likely that
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  Melchizedek is the king of that particular location in
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  antiquity. And look at the description of
• 29:51
  Melchizedek's people when he begins his reign as the king of
• 29:56
  Salem or the king of peace. His people had whacked strong in
• 30:03
  iniquity and abomination. Yeah, they had all gone astray,
• 30:07
  and they were full of all manner of wickedness.
• 30:12
  Now can you see maybe why Alma had chosen this particular set
• 30:16
  of scriptures from the brass plates to use as an example to
• 30:20
  teach the people of Ammaniah? Almost as if to say, you are
• 30:25
  exactly the way the people of Melchizedek were living their
• 30:30
  life in Salem at the beginning of Melchizedek's reign, as their
• 30:34
  king or as their leader. And now what did Melchizedek do?
• 30:39
  He, he didn't make himself a victim of the situation or the
• 30:44
  setting that he found himself in, surrounded by a whole bunch
• 30:47
  of people who were using their agents agency unwisely.
• 30:52
  What did he do? Verse 18, but Melchizedek having
• 30:56
  exercised mighty faith. Notice that first word in verse
• 31:00
  18. But in spite of the people
• 31:04
  making the decisions they were making, Melchizedek, this
• 31:07
  leader, having exercised mighty faith, he received the office of
• 31:13
  the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did
• 31:16
  preach repentance unto his people.
• 31:20
  I love this principle or this eternal truth.
• 31:24
  If you're a parent, if you're a friend, a leader, a ministering
• 31:31
  sister or brother, a teacher, whatever, whatever the situation
• 31:35
  may be, and you notice that somebody struggling, the way to
• 31:40
  the to best help that person is to love God and love them in a
• 31:47
  way that changes attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
• 31:51
  And in this case, Melchizedek did preach in such a way that
• 31:56
  they did repent. And Melchizedek did establish
• 31:59
  peace in the land in his days. Therefore, he was called the
• 32:02
  Prince of peace. Here was the king of Salem, and
• 32:06
  Salem means peace, Shalom. Now he becomes called the Prince
• 32:11
  of Peace, for he was the King of Salem and he did reign under his
• 32:15
  father. Jesus Christ is the ultimate
• 32:20
  Prince of Peace. But Melchizedek was a symbolic
• 32:24
  type or shadow, a placeholder, a lens through which we can see
• 32:29
  the Savior's attributes and strive to find ways for the Lord
• 32:34
  to empower us. But at the end of the day,
• 32:38
  people have their agency. In Melchizedek's case, he
• 32:44
  preached repentance using the power of the priesthood and the
• 32:47
  people repented. Now it would not be a true
• 32:51
  principle to take this story and then come up with an if then
• 32:56
  statement that says if I have enough faith in God and exercise
• 33:01
  enough power in the priesthood then the people that I am
• 33:05
  serving or loving or my children will all repent and live
• 33:10
  righteously. That isn't a true statement
• 33:13
  because there are countless times in scriptures where Jesus
• 33:20
  Christ himself taught many people that then chose not to
• 33:25
  repent. Where many prophets, Alma and
• 33:30
  Amulek being a prime example of that, are doing everything they
• 33:34
  can to teach these people in love and righteousness and their
• 33:39
  their audience is largely going to reject them.
• 33:42
  Now many will believe, but most in the audience are going to
• 33:47
  reject them. And it would be easy for Alman
• 33:50
  Amalek to walk away saying if only we had been better.
• 33:55
  Or for missionaries who come home saying I think my mission
• 34:00
  was a waste because nobody got baptized, or only a few handful
• 34:04
  of people got baptized thanks to my my efforts teaching and
• 34:09
  preaching and expounding and exhorting and inviting brothers
• 34:13
  and sisters. The measure of success is not in
• 34:17
  how other people use their agency.
• 34:20
  It's in how I have used my agency, how I have turned to
• 34:25
  God, and how I have loved my fellow beings to the best of my
• 34:31
  ability to tap into these these capacities that the Lord
• 34:35
  promises us. But what people do with that,
• 34:40
  whether there are, whether they're children or in a in a
• 34:45
  leadership setting, that is completely up to them and not
• 34:50
  us. And the Lord doesn't say well
• 34:54
  done now good and faithful servant only to those who have
• 34:57
  had successes like Melchizedek. He will say that to whoever has
• 35:03
  devoted their life to the Lord. So if you have loved ones who
• 35:07
  are struggling and you have tried and you have worked with
• 35:13
  them and you have taught them and you've been patient and
• 35:16
  you've forgiven them and you've you've invested your life in
• 35:20
  them and they still haven't responded.
• 35:24
  They still haven't repented. And they continue to make
• 35:26
  choices that cause them to struggle and to self inflict
• 35:32
  pain and sorrow. Don't judge yourself harshly.
• 35:39
  Don't quit, don't give up. Keep loving, keep turning the
• 35:44
  Lord. Keep exercising faith and trust
• 35:49
  in His timing and in His will. Because at the end of the day,
• 35:55
  it's not just about getting your loved one to change.
• 35:59
  It's the Lord refining you through the process of all of
• 36:04
  these relationships you're working with.
• 36:06
  Those are refining experiences in this laboratory of life where
• 36:14
  God is shaping you and helping you to become more like Him.
• 36:21
  Not because everything's working out perfectly, but especially to
• 36:25
  help you respond appropriately when things don't work out
• 36:29
  perfectly, when your message is rejected, as we're going to see
• 36:34
  happen in this story with Elma and Amulek.
• 36:37
  So let's jump down to verse 22 to see this perspective from a
• 36:42
  heavenly viewpoint. Because after all, everybody
• 36:47
  that you deal with on a daily basis, they're all children of
• 36:51
  God, and He's been dealing with them a lot longer than we have.
• 36:57
  Let's watch what he says here in verse 22.
• 37:00
  Yeah. And the voice of the Lord by the
• 37:03
  mouth of angels, death declared unto all nations.
• 37:07
  Yeah, Death declared that they may have glad tidings of great
• 37:10
  joy. Yeah, and he does sound these
• 37:13
  glad tidings among all his people.
• 37:17
  Yeah, even to them that are scattered, brought upon the face
• 37:19
  of the earth, wherefore they have come unto us.
• 37:24
  So God is giving opportunities, he's giving his words, his
• 37:30
  teachings, his doctrines, his invitations to all people across
• 37:36
  the entire earth. It's fascinating because Alma
• 37:41
  the younger here later on in his life at A at another difficult
• 37:47
  moment, he, he has this, this heartfelt plea, Oh, that I were
• 37:54
  an Angel. This is an Alma 29 and he wants
• 37:57
  to be able to cry repentance to everybody and have his voice
• 38:00
  sound like a trump to shake the earth and get everybody to
• 38:04
  adjust, which is what happened to him.
• 38:07
  And it's fascinating to see him then work through the reality of
• 38:14
  I can't force this any more than God is forcing this.
• 38:19
  He isn't doing that. And then he gives a further
• 38:23
  clarification to what we just read in verse 22.
• 38:25
  So if you want to cross reference Alma 1322, you could
• 38:29
  write Alma 29 verse 8. So this is Alma the younger
• 38:35
  years later saying this, Behold, the Lord doth grant unto all
• 38:42
  nations of their own nation and tongue to teach His word, yeah,
• 38:48
  in wisdom all that He sees fit that they should have.
• 38:52
  Therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom according
• 38:56
  to that which is just and true. God will give to every nation,
• 39:02
  kindred, tongue and people according to their own nation,
• 39:06
  everything that that He sees fit in His infinite wisdom to give
• 39:11
  unto them, which I would suggest is as much as they are willing
• 39:17
  to receive. He's not holding back.
• 39:20
  It's them who it's. It's us who push back, and so
• 39:25
  God gives us as much as we're able to receive.
• 39:28
  So when you're working with your loved ones who might be
• 39:31
  struggling in any setting, the trick might be figuring out
• 39:38
  where they are and figuring out the appropriate level of truth
• 39:43
  that they would be willing to receive, that they would be able
• 39:47
  to understand that would resonate with them.
• 39:51
  Finding them where they are and helping them get to to the next
• 39:56
  level up line upon line from where they are.
• 39:59
  There's something beautiful about that principle.
• 40:04
  If I understand where somebody is in their spiritual
• 40:10
  progression, then I am better able to help motivate, inspire,
• 40:17
  teach, encourage them to take the next step forward on the
• 40:22
  covenant path. That is a true principle and it
• 40:26
  seems to be what Alma and Amulek are are striving to do with this
• 40:29
  people here finding where they are, teaching them to the best
• 40:34
  of their ability, and then making these invitations.
• 40:37
  Then Alma talks to the people about the coming of Jesus
• 40:42
  Christ, the solution to all of our problems, which by the way,
• 40:48
  they're following the doctrine on E horse so they don't think
• 40:50
  they have any problems. So he spent some significant
• 40:54
  time trying to establish the fact that you actually do have
• 40:57
  some problems and you do need some help.
• 41:00
  Let me talk about where that help is going to come from.
• 41:03
  And now he introduces the coming of Jesus Christ that that when
• 41:07
  he comes that will be made known to us by the angels.
• 41:12
  And he says in verse 25. Now we only wait to hear the
• 41:15
  joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels of his
• 41:19
  coming, for the time cometh we know not how soon.
• 41:25
  So there's even a principle here.
• 41:27
  Prophets don't have to know everything about everything in
• 41:33
  order to be completely in 100% on the Lord's errand.
• 41:37
  Alma didn't know exactly when the coming of Christ was going
• 41:41
  to be, but it didn't change Alma's authority as a prophet of
• 41:46
  God at that time for that group of people.
• 41:49
  He says I would to God that it might be in my day, but let it
• 41:53
  be sooner or later in it, I will rejoice.
• 41:57
  I love that willingness to submit, that humility, that
• 42:02
  meekness to say I don't, I don't know this.
• 42:07
  So let me tell you what I do know.
• 42:09
  I do know that the Messiah is going to be born and when he's
• 42:13
  born, the angels will make it known unto us.
• 42:16
  It it, it will somehow be manifest to us.
• 42:19
  We'll know when he's born, but I don't know when it's going to
• 42:22
  be. I don't know if it's going to be
• 42:23
  in my lifetime. I hope it is, but I don't know.
• 42:26
  And he's OK with what he doesn't know because he rejoices and
• 42:32
  what he does know. And then he goes on to say verse
• 42:36
  27. And now, my brethren, here he is
• 42:43
  in full blown prophetic mode, talking to a group of people who
• 42:48
  are very wicked. And he's been teaching these
• 42:51
  lofty ideals and doctrines and now he refers to them as my
• 42:57
  brethren. He doesn't say my subjects or my
• 43:01
  people or you wicked group of of people.
• 43:04
  He says, my brethren, I wish from the in most part of my
• 43:09
  heart, yeah, with great anxiety, even unto pain that you would
• 43:15
  hearken unto my words and cast off your sins and not
• 43:19
  procrastinate the day of your repentance.
• 43:22
  This is such a beautiful plea coming from a prophet of God.
• 43:27
  This prophet who is feeling deep anxiety, even pain because of
• 43:35
  the the wickedness or the abomination of those those
• 43:38
  people. It's it's sobering to see this.
• 43:43
  So now here are the final pleadings his his call to action
• 43:49
  because again, prophets don't just teach doctrine and then say
• 43:52
  just thought you might want to know.
• 43:55
  Good luck, have a good day. They teach doctrine, they reveal
• 43:59
  the plan of salvation and then they followed up with
• 44:02
  invitations a call to action. What, what does the Lord want
• 44:08
  you to do now that you know what you know?
• 44:12
  And he says in verse 28 but that you would humble yourselves
• 44:17
  before the Lord and call on His holy name, and watch and pray
• 44:23
  continually that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can
• 44:27
  bear. And thus be led by the Holy
• 44:30
  Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of
• 44:36
  love and all long-suffering. And we'll pick up verse 29 in a
• 44:40
  minute. I want to pause here at the end
• 44:42
  of verse 28 to to point something out.
• 44:47
  If we're not careful in our scripture study, whether it be
• 44:51
  individual or with a family or an award or branch setting or a
• 44:56
  class setting, it's very easy to read these scriptures and to see
• 45:03
  them as these stories of people from the past and think, Oh
• 45:08
  yeah, you go, Alma, go get them. You, you preach it, brother.
• 45:14
  Help them to become more humble and to call on the holy name of
• 45:17
  God and to watch and pray continually so they won't be
• 45:20
  tempted. And it is so easy to hold our
• 45:24
  scriptures at arm's length and pat ourselves on the back saying
• 45:31
  at least we're not struggling with the same things those
• 45:33
  people did back then. It's a good thing Elma's not
• 45:37
  talking to me today. It's a good thing that those
• 45:41
  truths or those principles don't apply in my life right here,
• 45:45
  right now, because I've got things figured out.
• 45:48
  I I'm being facetious, but if you stop and think about it,
• 45:54
  that's an easy trap to fall into to keep ourselves removed from
• 46:02
  what we're reading on the Scripture page.
• 46:05
  What an amazing blessing it is when we can find ways to take
• 46:10
  the Scriptures personally, when we can liken all scriptures unto
• 46:17
  us that it might be for our prophet and our learning to use
• 46:21
  Nephi's words from first Nephi 1923.
• 46:24
  So instead of reading verse 28's call to action as just a call to
• 46:29
  action for wicked people in Ammaniah coming from the prophet
• 46:33
  Elma, what if instead we can hear the voice of our prophet
• 46:38
  today saying the same things to us, pleading with us to humble
• 46:46
  ourselves and to call on the name of God and to watch and
• 46:50
  pray continually? What if we could hear the voice
• 46:54
  of our prophet today pleading with us to become more humble,
• 46:59
  make submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering?
• 47:03
  So that verse 29, having faith on the Lord, having a hope that
• 47:08
  ye shall receive eternal life, having the love of God always in
• 47:12
  your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and
• 47:16
  enter into His rest. This message from over 2000
• 47:20
  years ago in Ammanihah by Alma, given to us from the the
• 47:26
  writings of Mormon. They are just as applicable and
• 47:30
  relevant today for me and you as they were for those people back
• 47:35
  then. Sure, we're in a different
• 47:38
  world. We're we're in a different
• 47:40
  setting than they were, but the power of eternal principles and
• 47:46
  eternal truths is such that they apply to us.
• 47:52
  They guide us. They guide our attitudes,
• 47:55
  beliefs and behaviors, and they focus us on the Saviour.
• 47:59
  They connect us with him just as much today as Alma was trying to
• 48:03
  do with his people back then. And now he finishes up his his
• 48:07
  big address to those people in verse 30.
• 48:10
  And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that you may not
• 48:14
  bring down his wrath upon you, that you may not be bound down
• 48:18
  by the chains of hell, that you may not suffer the second death.
• 48:22
  And again, I would repeat, if we're not careful, we we then
• 48:27
  like in the scriptures to us in a theoretical way where we say,
• 48:33
  Oh yeah, I should, I should be more humble.
• 48:37
  I should pray more fervently. I should have more faith on the
• 48:41
  Lord. And we speak about it in these
• 48:44
  generic theoretical pie in the sky terms.
• 48:49
  We leave it in that realm of, yeah, I'm going to do that
• 48:53
  someday. But when you get it to the
• 48:56
  principal level where you bring it down, then those applicable
• 49:01
  truths, we don't just see, Oh yeah, that applies to me.
• 49:05
  It becomes urgently applicable truths.
• 49:10
  We don't make decisions to to work on these things at some
• 49:14
  point in my life. We make resolve and resolutions
• 49:21
  to work on those things right now.
• 49:24
  Not an hour from now, not a day from now, but right now we start
• 49:31
  turning our heart and our mind heavenward and connecting with
• 49:34
  the Lord. Now verse 31 is a little
• 49:37
  shifting point because everything before that was
• 49:42
  Mormon giving you a copy paste job from Alma's words that Alma
• 49:49
  must have had recorded on the the plates of Mormon or on the
• 49:53
  plates of Nephi that Mormon is using to make his abridgement.
• 49:57
  He's he's giving you Alma's first person words in this
• 50:02
  speech and and even some of Amulex before.
• 50:06
  But now Mormon shifts to third person and he says and Alma
• 50:11
  speak many more words under the people which are not written in
• 50:15
  this book. So now Mormon the abridger is
• 50:18
  giving you his voice and telling the story in third person.
• 50:22
  Notice in verse four or chapter 14, verse one, and it came to
• 50:25
  pass after he that's Alma had made an end of speaking under
• 50:29
  the people. Many of them did believe in his
• 50:31
  words, on his words and began to repent and to search the
• 50:35
  scriptures. So it was successful.
• 50:38
  Many did believe, but if we're not careful, we would judge
• 50:44
  ourselves harshly if we were Alma because of this next verse.
• 50:48
  But the more part of them were desires that they might destroy
• 50:52
  Alma and Amulek, for they were angry with Alma because of the
• 50:57
  plainness of his words unto the Ezrim.
• 51:00
  And they also said that Amalek had lied unto them.
• 51:02
  And they reviled and had reviled against their law, and also
• 51:05
  against their lawyers and judges.
• 51:08
  And now they, they want to destroy Almanamulek, but they
• 51:12
  decide, OK, we can't do it privately, we need to do this
• 51:14
  through the law. So they bring Almanamulek before
• 51:17
  their chief judge and look at what they say.
• 51:19
  Verse five. The people went forth and
• 51:21
  witnessed against them, testifying that they had reviled
• 51:24
  against the law and their lawyers and judges of the land,
• 51:28
  and also of all the people that were in the land, and also
• 51:32
  testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his
• 51:36
  Son among the people, but he should not save them.
• 51:39
  Notice how easy it is to rest the scriptures, to rest the
• 51:44
  words of the prophets to, to twist them into something that
• 51:49
  they aren't to, to teach things that they weren't intended to
• 51:54
  teach. So they're, they're making these
• 51:57
  claims and instead of seeking truth, instead of seeking to
• 52:02
  find out what is eternally true, they're seeking to justify
• 52:07
  themselves in rationalizing their behavior and their beliefs
• 52:14
  and their, their world view. They're, they're trying to
• 52:18
  defend their own turf of their soul rather than seeking to love
• 52:25
  God and repent and live their life guided by relevant and
• 52:32
  urgent eternal truths. So the Ezram is sitting there
• 52:37
  and he's astonished to hear these people making these claims
• 52:40
  because he can now see clearly what he's been doing.
• 52:45
  And he's learned he's one of those who now believes, and he
• 52:48
  begins pleading for them, and they turn to him and they revile
• 52:52
  him, saying, art thou also possessed with the devil?
• 52:56
  And they spit upon him and cast him out from among them.
• 53:00
  And also all those who believed in the words which had been
• 53:03
  spoken by Alman Emilek. And they cast them out and sent
• 53:06
  men to cast stones at them. So all the men are kicked out
• 53:11
  that believe, including Zezrim. They, they, they're forced to
• 53:15
  leave the city. Can you see why it's important
• 53:19
  now to establish true principles that we find in Scriptures and
• 53:26
  not establish our hope? Because our hope would be that
• 53:31
  if we repent and follow Jesus Christ with full purpose of
• 53:36
  heart and change our lives, we get baptized, we get on the
• 53:40
  covenant path, then we would say our hope for a principle there
• 53:45
  would be. If I get on the covenant path
• 53:49
  with the Savior, then everything is going to perfectly work out
• 53:53
  in my life. I'm not going to experience
• 53:57
  struggles, heartache, set back abuse, or any difficulties of
• 54:02
  any kind because after all, I'm yoked with the Savior Jesus
• 54:06
  Christ. That's what we would hope would
• 54:09
  be true. But that's not what happens.
• 54:12
  These men are spit upon and reviled and kicked out of the
• 54:15
  city precisely because they believed in Jesus Christ and
• 54:22
  repented and got baptized and their wives and children are
• 54:26
  burned and destroyed and their scriptures are burned.
• 54:30
  And the chief judge makes a mockery of Alma and Amulek and
• 54:36
  and poor Amulek, watching people that he loves being destroyed,
• 54:42
  turns to Elma and says, we have the power, let's use it to stop
• 54:47
  this. And Alma's response is, is
• 54:52
  sobering. He says, verse 11, The spirit
• 54:55
  constraineth me, that I must not stretch forth mine hand.
• 54:59
  For behold, the Lord receiveth them up unto Himself in glory,
• 55:03
  and he does suffer. That they may do this thing, or
• 55:07
  that the people may do this thing unto them, according to
• 55:10
  the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he
• 55:12
  shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just, and the blood
• 55:17
  of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them.
• 55:19
  Yeah, and cry mightily against them at the last day.
• 55:24
  There's an interesting, interesting principle going on
• 55:27
  here. We see life often through these
• 55:33
  mortal blinders, and we look at this story and it feels very
• 55:37
  unfair. It feels completely unjust and
• 55:43
  inappropriate. What's happening?
• 55:46
  I love something that CS Lewis taught in in his book The Great
• 55:50
  Divorce. At one point CS Lewis the the
• 55:56
  character in this this parable like story is being taught by
• 56:04
  George McDonald. His his his guiding Angel.
• 56:08
  George McDonald having been CS Lewis's hero and at this point
• 56:12
  George McDonald teaches this truth.
• 56:16
  Both good and evil, when they are fully grown, become
• 56:22
  retrospective. He goes on to say what mortals
• 56:27
  misunderstand is this, they say, of some temporal suffering.
• 56:31
  No future bliss can make up for this.
• 56:34
  And it would be easy to read this story and say no future
• 56:37
  reward in heaven can make up for this abuse that just took place
• 56:41
  here. This, this incredibly evil act
• 56:45
  that was performed by these wicked men in Ammanihah.
• 56:49
  And then he says they don't know that heaven once attained, will
• 56:54
  work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory and of
• 57:01
  some sinful pleasure. They say, ah, let me have but
• 57:06
  this, and I'll take the consequences.
• 57:10
  Little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into
• 57:14
  their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin.
• 57:19
  Both processes begin even before death.
• 57:23
  The goodman's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins
• 57:28
  and remembered sorrows take on the quality of heaven, and the
• 57:32
  bad man's past already conforms to his vadnais and is filled
• 57:37
  only with dreariness. And that is why at the end of
• 57:42
  all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to
• 57:46
  blackness down there, the blessed will say, Huh, we have
• 57:51
  never lived anywhere except in heaven.
• 57:54
  And those that are lost will say, We were always in hell, and
• 58:01
  both will speak. Truly, brothers and sisters,
• 58:06
  this is a true principle that if we devote our life to the Lord,
• 58:13
  it doesn't guarantee that we're going to live a life of peace
• 58:17
  and prosperity free of all pain and abuse and sorrows and
• 58:23
  setbacks. What it does mean is that we
• 58:27
  begin to live in heaven at that moment that we decide that we're
• 58:33
  going to focus our life on Jesus Christ, on his restored gospel,
• 58:38
  on true principles taught by his prophets, his appointed
• 58:43
  servants, and that we find in the Scriptures.
• 58:46
  And then we leave all of the the consequences in the hands of the
• 58:51
  Lord. We may experience difficulties
• 58:55
  and and trials and setbacks and loss of life or loss of a job or
• 59:00
  loss of a loved one, but the Lord will guide us and will turn
• 59:08
  those losses into eternal gain as long as we continue to think
• 59:14
  celestial as our as President Nelson has urged.
• 59:19
  So watch the the abuse and the injustice that now get inflicted
• 59:22
  on Almanamulex starting in verse 14.
• 59:25
  Now it came to pass that when the bodies of those who had been
• 59:27
  cast into the fire were consumed, and also the records
• 59:30
  which were cast in with them, the chief judge of the land came
• 59:34
  and stood before Almanamilak as they were bound.
• 59:37
  And he smote them with his hand upon their cheeks, and said unto
• 59:42
  them, After what you've seen, will you preach again unto this
• 59:45
  people, that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and
• 59:48
  brimstone? So the chief judge and these
• 59:51
  people are making a mockery of what they've taught about fire
• 59:55
  and brimstone with what they have done now with these
• 59:58
  righteous people and. That's the first time, if you're
• 1:00:04
  if you're marking your scriptures and keeping track,
• 1:00:07
  you could put a little one next to verse 14.
• 1:00:09
  That's the first time they get smoked, smitten on the cheek.
• 1:00:13
  The second time is in verse 15. Then a third time is in verse
• 1:00:17
  17. It says, and it came to pass
• 1:00:19
  that Almanamulich answered him nothing and he smote them again
• 1:00:23
  and delivered them to the officers to be cast into prison.
• 1:00:26
  So three times this chief judge, the one who's supposed to be
• 1:00:29
  upholding a law, is now abusing a law and inflicting this this
• 1:00:35
  smiting upon Elman Amulek. Then they're thrown into prison.
• 1:00:40
  They're there for three days. And there came many lawyers and
• 1:00:43
  judges and priests and teachers who were of the profession of
• 1:00:47
  Nihor. And they came in on to the
• 1:00:49
  prison to see them and they questioned them about many
• 1:00:52
  words, but they answered them nothing.
• 1:00:55
  Verse 19 they said, don't you know we have power and they
• 1:01:00
  answered them nothing. Verse 1718 and 19, they answered
• 1:01:07
  them nothing. There's this Christ like
• 1:01:11
  reflection going on here when he's standing in front of Herod
• 1:01:15
  being questioned and asked and and prodded and he says nothing.
• 1:01:20
  I love President Russell and Nielsen's talk.
• 1:01:23
  Peacemakers needed, you see a perfect example of that in this
• 1:01:29
  story here, that sometimes the best way to respond to reviling
• 1:01:35
  and persecution and abuse is to say nothing, as they did in this
• 1:01:39
  case. They said nothing.
• 1:01:41
  Verse 20. It came to pass that they
• 1:01:43
  departed and went their ways, but they came again on the
• 1:01:45
  Morrow. And the judge also smote them
• 1:01:47
  again on their cheeks. There's the 4th time.
• 1:01:50
  And many came forth also and smote them.
• 1:01:52
  There's the 5th time, then they gnash their teeth upon them,
• 1:01:56
  spit upon them and say, how shall we look when we are
• 1:01:58
  damned? And then verse 22 and many such
• 1:02:01
  things, ye all manner of such things that they send to them,
• 1:02:03
  unless they didn't mock them for many days.
• 1:02:07
  How many like don't deserve any of this?
• 1:02:09
  But they don't turn their back on God.
• 1:02:12
  They don't let go of their covenants.
• 1:02:15
  They don't allow the outward influences to affect their
• 1:02:20
  inward conversion to God. They aren't basing their
• 1:02:24
  testimony on what happens around them.
• 1:02:28
  They're basing their testimony on what they have covenanted to
• 1:02:34
  covenanted to do internally. And it's a lasting conversion.
• 1:02:39
  It's not a fair weather relation, fair weather friend
• 1:02:42
  kind of relationship with God. It's a deep and abiding
• 1:02:47
  relationship that is being deepened through these trials
• 1:02:52
  and tribulations. Now, when it says in verse 22
• 1:02:54
  that they mocked them for many days, we say, OK, was that 789
• 1:03:00
  days? Look at verse 23.
• 1:03:02
  And it came to pass after they had had thus suffered for many
• 1:03:07
  days. And then he gives you the
• 1:03:08
  timestamp. It was on the 12th day in the
• 1:03:11
  10th month, in the 10th year. Well, now we can do some math
• 1:03:15
  and we realize if you go back to chapter 10, verse six, that was
• 1:03:20
  three months and eight days ago. If you were to use a Gregorian
• 1:03:25
  calendar kind of months and days over three months is when they
• 1:03:32
  they gave us that last time stamp.
• 1:03:35
  They've been going through this struggle with these people.
• 1:03:39
  And then in verse 24 it says, and the chief judge stood before
• 1:03:43
  them and smote them again. That's the sixth time if you're
• 1:03:47
  counting and said unto them, if you have the power of God,
• 1:03:50
  deliver yourselves from these bands and then we will believe
• 1:03:55
  that the Lord will destroy these people according to your words.
• 1:04:00
  Did you catch his if then statement?
• 1:04:03
  If you show us a sign by just delivering yourself from these
• 1:04:09
  bands, then we'll believe that your prophecies will come to
• 1:04:15
  pass that will be destroyed. Their if then is based on a
• 1:04:20
  faulty principle, a principle of I won't believe until I can see.
• 1:04:29
  The opposite of that is, if we choose to believe first, then
• 1:04:36
  we'll see the evidence of that faith.
• 1:04:42
  We, we will receive a witness of our faith as a result of our
• 1:04:47
  belief, not the other way around, which is how these
• 1:04:51
  people are approaching. And then verse 2025 says, and it
• 1:04:54
  came to pass that they all went forth and smote them, saying the
• 1:04:56
  same words even until the last. That's the 7th time that they've
• 1:05:01
  been smitten. They've been kept in prison
• 1:05:05
  without clothing, without enough food, without enough water,
• 1:05:09
  bound in prison. And their testimony hasn't
• 1:05:14
  wavered. Their commitment to the Lord
• 1:05:17
  hasn't slackened. It's not weaker, it's actually
• 1:05:21
  become stronger. And at this point they rose and
• 1:05:25
  stood upon their feet. And Alma cried, How long shall
• 1:05:30
  we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord?
• 1:05:33
  O Lord, give us strength according to our faith, which is
• 1:05:37
  in Christ, even unto deliverance.
• 1:05:41
  And they broke the cords with which they were bound.
• 1:05:44
  And when the people saw this, they began to flee for the fear
• 1:05:47
  of destruction to come upon them.
• 1:05:48
  Remember what they said. If you, if you deliver
• 1:05:50
  yourselves, then we'll believe your words about us being
• 1:05:53
  destroyed. Well, they just delivered
• 1:05:55
  themselves. And so the people are thinking,
• 1:05:58
  Oh no, maybe we will be destroyed.
• 1:06:01
  And now the people have this fear of destruction that
• 1:06:05
  overtakes them. And so great was their fear that
• 1:06:08
  they fell to the earth and did not obtain the outer door of the
• 1:06:11
  prison. And the earth shook mightily in
• 1:06:13
  the walls of the prison were rent in twain.
• 1:06:15
  So they fell to the earth, and the chief judge and the lawyers
• 1:06:19
  and the priests and the teachers who smote upon Alma and Amulek
• 1:06:22
  were slain by the fall thereof. Everyone in the prison is killed
• 1:06:27
  except for Alma and Amulek, who walk out and are then seen by
• 1:06:36
  the people and everybody's afraid and they're sent out of
• 1:06:40
  the city. This is a a beautiful story that
• 1:06:45
  I believe has huge application for us in the latter days.
• 1:06:50
  You're probably not going to find yourself tied up in a
• 1:06:54
  prison, most of you with water and food being withheld.
• 1:06:59
  You're probably not going to be smitten 7 times by a group of
• 1:07:03
  people who are reviling you and persecuting you.
• 1:07:06
  But there are different kinds of prisons.
• 1:07:09
  There a variety of hungers, there are all kinds of thirsts,
• 1:07:16
  there are all kinds of abuses. There are all kinds of external
• 1:07:20
  pressures in our lives today. And that's why we don't apply a
• 1:07:25
  story to our life. We apply truths.
• 1:07:30
  We apply principles and doctrines that are contained,
• 1:07:33
  embedded symbolically in those stories.
• 1:07:37
  It's those principles and those teachings and those truths and
• 1:07:40
  those doctrines that we then apply in our lives today.
• 1:07:43
  What are some of the Amaniah like experiences that you're
• 1:07:48
  facing in your life and what principles are you using to
• 1:07:55
  apply to those situations so that your faith actually deepens
• 1:08:00
  and increases and broadens in the Lord Jesus Christ rather
• 1:08:05
  than weakens and grows slack. Now, as we finish up, you can
• 1:08:12
  now take chapter 15 and 16 and look for additional if then
• 1:08:18
  statements of truth or come up with and thus we see at the end,
• 1:08:23
  you could take any particular set of chapters and or even set
• 1:08:29
  of verses and at the end of those just write down a new
• 1:08:34
  verse. And thus I see or thus we see
• 1:08:38
  and then summarize. What did you learn and what are
• 1:08:43
  you discovering about God, about yourself, about your loved ones,
• 1:08:49
  about those who who with whom you interact every day?
• 1:08:53
  So chapter 15 has all kinds of of healing and blessings for
• 1:09:01
  Zezrum, for Amulek, who's lost many of his loved ones in that
• 1:09:07
  experience in chapter 14, and Alma's going to strengthen him.
• 1:09:11
  So you could look for principles of how you could apply that
• 1:09:15
  principle in your ministering efforts.
• 1:09:18
  And chapter 16 shows the fulfillment of those prophecies
• 1:09:24
  that in one day Amaniah is completely wiped out and
• 1:09:27
  destroyed. And you could read that chapter
• 1:09:30
  looking for principles of what can you learn about God's
• 1:09:36
  prophets having their words fulfilled?
• 1:09:39
  What can you learn about God's justice and judgement for those
• 1:09:43
  who refuse to repent when they're warned of their
• 1:09:47
  wickedness? What other principles can you
• 1:09:50
  learn that would guide your attitudes, beliefs, and
• 1:09:53
  behaviors in an urgent sense today that are eternally true
• 1:09:59
  and that focus you on Christ? These are just a couple of ideas
• 1:10:03
  and you can, if this isn't working for you, throw it out.
• 1:10:06
  Come up with with a set of of parameters that helps you focus
• 1:10:12
  more deeply in your study of the scriptures so that you no longer
• 1:10:16
  go to church to a class or turn on a podcast or a YouTube video
• 1:10:22
  and sit back and wait to be acted upon.
• 1:10:26
  But rather so that you don't have it be a spectator sport.
• 1:10:30
  You have it be a very active, engaged experience where you're
• 1:10:35
  constantly looking for ways and inspiration and motivation to
• 1:10:41
  connect more fully with the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1:10:44
  This is a lifelong pursuit, but oh, what a worthwhile and
• 1:10:49
  beneficial pursuit it is. And in closing, if you're facing
• 1:10:55
  struggles right now, or if you have loved ones who are facing
• 1:11:00
  struggles right now, I would remind you of that principle
• 1:11:04
  that if you put God first, if you humble yourself, if you turn
• 1:11:10
  to Him in mighty prayer, pleading for His guidance, his
• 1:11:14
  his power, His direction to be manifest in your life, that He
• 1:11:19
  will somehow, I don't know how it works, but He will find ways
• 1:11:24
  to turn even those most difficult and bitter experiences
• 1:11:28
  of your life into refining experiences that shape your
• 1:11:35
  character and to help you connect more fully with Jesus
• 1:11:39
  Christ and to become more Christ like in your interactions with
• 1:11:44
  those around you. I love the Lord with all my
• 1:11:47
  heart and I never want it to be said of me.
• 1:11:51
  Oh, he just loved the Lord when everything was going well.
• 1:11:55
  I want it to be said of me that he loved the Lord regardless of
• 1:12:00
  what was going on around him or with people interacting with
• 1:12:05
  him. That's my hope and prayer for
• 1:12:08
  all of us, and I leave that with you.
• 1:12:10
  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
• 1:12:15
  Know that you're loved.