Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 5–7 | June 10–16 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Alma 5–7 | June 10–16 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central.
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Glad you're here. I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson.
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I'm Jack Welch. And we get to talk about
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chapters 5 through 7 in the book of Alma.
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And these two chapters have two of Alma the Younger's first
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sermons. They are probably the most well
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known sermons that he gave. They are beautiful.
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And the first one, Chapter 5, is after he has stepped down as
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chief judge, he's now reigning as the high priest over the
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church and he's going out on a four year mission.
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But he starts right in his hometown of Zarahemla, preaching
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to those people there. And the whole lesson is a way of
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calling them to repentance. And yet he doesn't really do
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that. He asks questions.
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This is a masterful a work of rhetoric because he just uses
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question after question. I count 50 questions.
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There's only 42 question marks, but the reason why you get 50
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questions is because there's double S.
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Some of them are compound questions, Yeah.
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So the punctuation marks weren't there originally.
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Not at all. So I think we can and maybe it's
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49. I like the number 50 because
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it's kind of the Jubilee number. Fairly recently, Alma has just
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come off of a great celebration in the seventh year of the new
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reign of the Judges, where many people joined the church there
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in Zarahemla. And then a couple years later,
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he comes and speaks not just to the people in the city of
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Zarahemla, but the land of Zarahemla.
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It says he goes around to the villages and preaches in each
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one. Yeah.
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Do you think he gives the same talk in each of the villages?
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He might, he might. Do you think he had this written
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out in advance like King Benjamin did?
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Oh, that's an interesting thought.
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Alma will use King Benjamin's speech both in Chapter 5 and in
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Chapter 7 quite extensively, and it would make sense that he
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would not just come and talk. He would want these people to
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have these words that they could use, especially in those seven
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churches that they have established so that they can
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follow up and study and. And yet he's talking to
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everybody. He's not just talking to members
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of the church, which is a beautiful part about this.
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It's an invitation throughout the text as well.
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That's right. And at the end of his speech,
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verse 62, he even says that he is speaking unto the members of
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the Church by way of commandment, but to those who do
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not belong to the Church, she says by way of invitation.
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It's interesting we we use that same differentiation as well
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that, but even in the church, we always want to invite people to
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take the next step. Well, there's agency these 50
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questions you have organized so nicely in your book Charting at
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the Book of Mormon. Can you tell us a little bit
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about that? Yeah, way a long time ago in
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this book, which is now available on the archive at Book
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of Mormon Central or Scripture Central charts 61234.
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There's several right in that cluster where we went through
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and just listed all of these 50 questions.
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So when you do a chart, you'd like to be able to have things
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that are countable. And I thought, and if we were
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going through this, I just thought, well, how many
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questions are there? I had taught this chapter in my
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honors Book of Mormon classes at BYU, and we broke it down into
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different sections and looked at each one of the of the questions
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and I found that it was a very effective way of teaching.
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I've tried to be a good teacher and ask more questions than we.
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After this good example here. I think all of us in teaching
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can follow Alma's model here to ask questions and invite and
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then let people come to their own realization.
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It's such a good way to have introspection.
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I think if our goal is learning, we have got to be able to allow
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the individual to come to their own conclusions.
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I feel like it's a brilliant usage, but I also appreciate the
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fact that you may not come up with 50 questions, you may not
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come up with seven or eight different categories or 9:00.
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But when you read these chapters this week, I hope that you take
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the chance to allow these questions to penetrate into your
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heart and really apply them and find your own groups and
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subcategories. And and then answer them.
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They aren't rhetorical questions.
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These are inviting and commanding questions.
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And so as you go through and work with a cluster of these
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questions, ask yourself, what do these tell me today?
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And we really invite you, I hope you will read through Alma
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Chapter 5 and Alma Chapter 7 this week.
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They aren't that long really. You'll be rewarded, you will be
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enlightened and you'll be guided by what Alma is saying here.
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And I think this questioning it's it's an art to be able to
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ask good questions. Well, he's a masterful writer
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anyway. Yeah.
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I think that when you try to solve a problem, I always told
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my law students that a good question is half the answer.
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If you're not asking the right question, you won't be looking
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for the right things. Before we ask the questions
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though, Alma introduced himself by proper authority, which is
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nice. In verse 3, Alma, having been
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consecrated by my father to be a high priest over the Church of
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God, and having power and authority from God to do these
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things, behold, I say unto you that he began to establish the
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church in the land on the borders of Nephi.
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So the way I've grouped these, and of course you might want to
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group them in another way, but I see the first five questions
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helping us to remember God's acts for us.
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Oh, it's the deliverance from Noah, literally.
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But it's has how God delivers his people.
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Not all of the people that Alma's is speaking to were
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delivered from Noah's bondage, but they've heard the stories.
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And God is merciful and will remember you if you remember
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him. Why is that?
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That we have to remember that God has been merciful?
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I think it puts you in a frame of mind to be receptive.
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If you have faith, if you know that God has done wonderful
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things for you, you can then ask Him another question and He will
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answer Moroni in Moroni chapter 10, verse 3, and that's the
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verse before verse four. We all know Moroni 10/4, but in
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Moroni 10/3 he begins by saying, when you receive these things, I
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would exhort you that you remember God's mercies unto the
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people you have to ask, never wavering.
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And you, you increase your ability to acts with confidence
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when you think of the places and times in your life when God has
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remembered you. And then you can remember him,
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and he'll act again. And that's just what he's doing
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because he's going back to remembering what the Angel told
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him. The first question mark, whether
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it's counting as the first question or not, is in verse
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six, I think. And he says, have you
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sufficiently retained the remembrance of the captivity of
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your father's? Do you remember when Alma is is
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visited by the Angel? He says, have you remembered the
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captivity of your father? So I think it's interesting.
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Now that shows up in Alma 36. Yeah, and he's right here.
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But it's using again Mosiah 27 in the earlier account.
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So now we see we mentioned this this last time that Alma will
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use more than he reports in in Mosiah 27.
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And this is an example of. That this is an example, but I
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think it's great that he is sort of calling them to repentance
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without using the word repentance for a long time.
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And he wants them to. When we are remembering, we are
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returning back to the state of repentance because repentance is
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not just stopping the bad act, it's it's, it's returning to
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God. And so that's why we have to
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remember as part of that act. Anyway, I think that's pretty
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significant that he is following the angel's direction right
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there and he's repeating it to these people.
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And he asks them to remember three things.
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One remember your captivity, Think about the problems you've
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had #2 remember God's mercy and long-suffering toward your
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Father's. Remember your ancestors.
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Remember your pioneer ancestors. Remember the scripture of heroes
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and? You know, I do this.
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I do this a lot. I borrow from their experiences
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and their strength and I remember what they did and the
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sacrifices they made. And whether you're a pioneer or
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not, it doesn't matter. We have great.
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People. Who remember?
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Back those memories and 3rd. Have you sufficiently retained
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in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell
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now their dad, the ancestors that are gone?
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But we know that they have been delivered, and we can have
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confidence that when we die, we too will be delivered.
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So were your father's destroyed? No.
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And question 5 Were the bands of death broken?
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And the chains of hell which encircled about your father's?
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Were they loosed? That's in verse 9.
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Yeah, yeah. And I love continuing on in
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verse nine, I say unto you, yay, They were loosed and their souls
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did expand and they did sing redeeming love.
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I say unto you that they are saved.
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You know, they were able to go through the process of
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repentance. I think he's so wise.
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And instead of standing up and calling them to repentance, he
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he starts this way and asks them to examine themselves and
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remember back their forefathers did receive the redeeming love
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of the Lord. That's right and literally the
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word here. They were saved means rescued.
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Yeah, literally, of course. Yeah.
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Of course we talk about the salvation of the Lord who
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rescues us from death and from sin.
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We should not forget that he saves us in other ways too, as.
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We're talking about being saved. I think of the name Jesus or
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Joshua in Hebrew or Yeshua means to be saved, to save now.
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Jehovah, yo, Shua. Jehovah saves.
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Yeah, so and they, that's a great point.
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And that's what he's all about, is saving us in all the ways you
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can imagine. Through our Savior?
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Yeah, Through our Jesus. OK.
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Next question, which one do you want to look at?
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Next. Well, the next block I have,
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Alma wants them to know the essential logic, I call it, of
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the gospel. And I have Gospel Essentials, so
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yeah. So he invites them to ponder the
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conditions of salvation and the need to believe the prophets of
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God. This next block of questions
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comes from verses 10:50. So all found just in those two
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verses. And what does he ask?
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On what conditions were your father saved?
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On what grounds had they to hope for salvation?
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What is the cause of your father's being loosed from the
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bands of death? Yeah, and also the chains of
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hell. Did not my father Alma believe
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in the words which were delivered by the mouth of a
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Benedi, his Alma, his own father?
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Well, and I just love this because he's come 180° around
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and now his hero figure is the man he used to fight against.
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But Jack, as we ask questions, we have to do them like Alma did
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in faith, believing that we will get an answer.
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I think the whole restoration was started with a good question
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and with by a humble seeking source.
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I feel like questions are the best way to learn, whether
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they're a hard question or an easy question, as long as we
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approach it with faith. Faith and hope and hope and
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charity. And he talks about that.
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In a few verses that those. Aren't quite yet.
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We approach them in faith, meaning faithfulness and belief
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in Christ. We approach them in hope because
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we want an answer, hoping that it will come.
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We don't doubt if we're asking, we we need to hope that we will
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get the response. And we do it in charity because
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we want to then put it to work for other people.
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Our purposes are not selfish. And if we ask the questions with
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that process in mind, then we open up this, I call it the the
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faith cycle, because once you've gone through that cycle of
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faith, hope and charity, once, you now return to the beginning
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and you have faith in the next principle.
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Yes, you. Do and then you go through this
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hoping for a response and then using it in a charitable way and
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so on. And so it's A1 eternal round.
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I have for my next group personal conversion.
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What do you have? I have being personally
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converted. OK, OK.
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And he does ask penetrating questions about.
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You humbled, trust in the God. Are you faithful, hopeful.
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And have you had a mighty change right in your heart?
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So we're already talking about this.
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These are verses 14 and 15. What does it mean here?
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Have you been spiritually born of God?
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Where does he get that phrase from?
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Have you been through it? Well, of course it is.
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You've got that. In chapter 5, they say we have
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been spiritually born of God and we are now his sons and
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daughters. So here's another place, and
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there will be many of them here, where Benjamin will be used as
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the great foundation of the people of Zarahemla.
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So he's quoting King Benjamin like somebody might quote
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George. Washington Well, it's just 40
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years before, you know, it's not that much time.
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So they remember this. So have you been spiritually
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born of God? Have you received his image in
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your countenance? And that's a very.
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I think that's probably the most well known question of the whole
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chapter. But and.
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What do you think that means? I do think you can tell if there
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is extra light in someone's countenance, if you've been born
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again, if you're feeling a closeness to the Savior, if you
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feel the love of the Lord in your life.
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And I think the love of the Lord comes in our lives when we feel
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the redemption, when we feel forgiven.
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And that light is actually discernible.
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Yeah, it's, you can see it. My wife had a colleague at BYU
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who was not a member of the church, and when asked why did
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you want to come and teach at BYU, he said, well, it was
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something when I was here interviewing and talking to
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people and teaching practice session, it was the light in
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their faces that I love. That's great.
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And so it's perceptible. Yes, and and that's which verse
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are you in? Well, I'm still in verse 14.
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Yes. Have you experienced this mighty
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change in your heart? My problem is I experience it
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and then I go and do something bad and it's gone again.
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My problem is, yes, I feel this way.
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I feel this way all the time, but it leaves.
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Thoughts are fleeting, yes, but if it's in your heart, it's
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embedded in who you are. And people in the ancient world,
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they didn't even know about the nervous system.
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Of course not. Yeah.
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It's not until the 19th century that they really can figure out
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what's going on with the nerves. And so Aristotle, as smart as he
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was, he thought that the brain was the marrow of the of the
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skull. OK, It was basically inert.
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In the Old Testament, it's always the heart is the way
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you're thinking as a man thinking in.
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His heart is it. And that's what they all
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thought. Yeah, that that the blood, the
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blood is then conveying these impressions and the heart is the
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repository of where you really think.
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And so to us, of course, we understand it differently, but
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you might want to just modify that.
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Have you experienced this mighty change in not just your heart,
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but in your mind? And you know, we're told to to
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love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength, all of
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these things. And then when Joseph is trying
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to learn what the Spirit is, he and Oliver are asking the Lord
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these questions at the very beginning of the translation.
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And the Lord says it's got to make sense in your mind and in
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your heart. So in our vocabulary, we use
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both. But here in the ancient world, I
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think there's significance to that.
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That's right. And I like this last question
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that I've put in this section, end of verse 15.
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Do you look forward with an eye of faith?
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And we've already mentioned this faith cycle, but it's not
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finished. When you you get the blessing,
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you then must look forward with that eye of faith.
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That's a great. One to then go forward with the
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next step in progression. Yeah.
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And the next step is, is this for you?
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I saw this next one on judgement, like the judgement
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day, starting at verse, the second-half of verse 15 all the
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way down to like 24 or something.
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He's talking about the judgment, the guilty in the.
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That's right, exactly. Those are the the blocks and.
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Remember your guilt, he says in 18.
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He says not only remember, but like in in verse 16, he says,
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Can you imagine to yourself that you hear the voice of the Lord
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saying? Come unto me, ye blessed, for
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behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the
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face of the earth. What do?
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What do you think about that word imagining?
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See yourself in the future. Can you imagine being before
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God? Can you imagine God's love?
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Can you imagine these things, even if you haven't felt them,
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so that it will motivate you to seek for them?
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How? How do we imagine you know it's
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it's related to the word image? Of course.
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Right. And so you want to imagine by
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actually being fairly, I think, deliberate about not just being
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a blank screen and expecting something to appear there, but
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that you start putting the pieces together and you want to
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imagine what it might be like. Well, the first thing you
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imagine is the Lord will be there.
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And then you imagine, well, he'll be saying something.
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And then you imagine, well, what might he say?
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So this imagining process, I think it's an active verb.
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Oh, the whole thing isn't active.
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That's the whole point. The talk is such a the sermon is
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so beautiful in getting us to apply the teachings of our Lord.
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Then you ask a lot about guilt. Remember your guilt.
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Well, that's right. In verse 17, do you think you
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can imagine that you can lie to to God in that day?
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We will not dare lie to God. We know and he is so powerful,
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so good. We would be so embarrassed if we
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lied to God. You're going to make up a story
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and say I. Didn't do that.
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It won't work. It won't.
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Work. It's not going to work.
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He also. Uses the image of being washed
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again, our garments being washed white.
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They must be purified and cleansed through the blood of
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him who has been spoken of by our fathers, who has redeemed
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his people. That's verse 21.
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So he doesn't want us to wallow in our guilt and he wants us to
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remember the cleansing of the Savior.
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That's available in 21. And back just before that in
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verse 20, he says, all right, you can imagine the image of God
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engraves and on your countenance.
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Can you think he doesn't even want you to imagine this, but
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can you think of being saved when you have yield yourself to
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become subject to the devil? That doesn't make any sense.
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You can't even think that he understands and we all
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understand you can only have and serve one master.
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You cannot serve God and Satan. Jesus will teach and.
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Nephi knows this, and we hear people.
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Talking right here and at verse 22, if ye shall stand before the
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bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all
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manner filthiness, behold, what will these things testify of
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you, You know? And then he goes on and talks
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about murders and guilt. But in 24 again, he talks about
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being cleansed by the atoning blood of our Savior.
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I think it's interesting that he thinks we will stand there with
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garments. We won't be just naked, but we
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will be clothed with garments. And what do you think those
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garments will look like? Or do we have anything that
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represents those garments to remind us of standing before God
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in a pure state? There's a reason why we have
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temple garments, the reason why they're white.
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And why they use that same word that used to mean just clothing,
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but we use it for a special meaning.
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Yeah, my favorite verse is verse 26.
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OK, and this is in what I call the next block of text, which
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are self assessing one's spiritual condition.
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So this is the next thing Alma wants us to do after we've kind
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of imagined the judgement day. Now let's think, well where are
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we? How are we doing?
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If you have experienced a change of heart and if you have felt to
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sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
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Is that just a rhetorical question?
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It's like a command. And he's, I think he's saying,
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all right, if you've come along this far and you know, Joseph
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Smith and his wonderful understanding of the, the nature
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of the eternal gospel sees it in terms of progression.
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Joseph Smith reveals not just the plan of salvation, but the
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plan of eternal progress and the plan of redemption and the plan
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of exaltation and all these aspects of the plan.
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It's a multiple staged part of our life as we progress.
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And here, OK, if we have experienced this change, first
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thing we do is sing the song of redeeming love.
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Can you sing that song? Can you feel?
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So now sing away. And the music?
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How important was music in the ancient Israelite Temple?
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Very important the Psalms were. Even by the time of the New
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Testament, the Psalms were more available than any other book
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outside of the Torah. That's right.
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And the Psalms. Were there hymns?
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Hymn books? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And that's why they're quoted so often.
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They, they knew these and they would sing these songs on the
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Sabbath, they would sing them on all of the festival days and
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many of them were designed to be sung in temple worship.
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And so this song of redeeming love, these would be Psalms
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about God's redemption and the Redeemer of Israel, our only
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delight. You can think of it, a lot of
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them, and go and and spend some time looking at the Psalms with
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this perspective in mind. Where in the temple does this
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particular Psalm fit? And you'll find a place for it.
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CS Lewis wrote many books, but one of my favourites is a book
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called Reflections on the Psalms.
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I haven't read that one. And it's well worth looking at.
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So that's a challenge for you. Well, let's get back to Alma 5.
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And he continues on with these wonderful 50 questions.
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So in verse 27, have you walked, keeping yourself blameless as
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staying on the covenant path? If you were to die right now,
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have you been sufficiently humble?
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Verse 28 Are you stripped of pride?
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Verse 29. Is there one among you who is
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not stripped of envy? Stripped of envy, of course,
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goes right to the 10 commandments.
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Shalt not covet. Number and. #10.
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Yeah. And finally, I think this is a
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really important one in 30. Is there one among you that doth
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make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him
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persecutions? Well, and that's where he
24:43
finally says repent. It's right after that verse 3132
24:47
repent, repent. You know, he he hasn't said it
24:50
yet. He's he's asked us to do some
24:52
self reflection and I think these questions are so good
24:54
before the sacrament. I love thinking of these
24:56
questions for me during the sacrament and in the morning
24:59
before I go to church. But now he comes to the
25:01
punchline. Repent.
25:03
Those verses from 31 to 38, how many verses are there in this
25:09
chapter? 60 Some.
25:13
These are the center. This is the center.
25:15
OK. OK.
25:16
That's great, but. Let us move on.
25:18
He also says in 34 Come unto me, that ye may partake of the fruit
25:22
of the tree of life. This is also a Temple text,
25:26
isn't it? The Temple uses the menorah, the
25:29
light right before the veil, to represent the tree of life, as
25:33
we can partake now to enter the presence of the Lord without our
25:37
sins, because we are going through.
25:40
We've already had the washings and anointings and the sacrifice
25:44
at the altar. And don't forget the Tree of
25:46
Life in the Garden of Eden. Well, that's the whole point.
25:48
I think it's. The way we can finally get to
25:50
it. Yeah.
25:51
So now we that's the whole point is that we're we're back to the
25:54
Garden of Eden. Yes, thank you very.
25:55
Important all right, so the next little group just in verse 39 is
26:01
one separate section that he wants to let people know that if
26:05
you're not of the sheep of the Good Shepherd, what fold are
26:09
you? And if the devil is your
26:11
shepherd, you are of his fault. Jack, I don't know if you
26:15
remember, but back in Genesis when Jacob is giving the
26:19
patriarchal blessings to everybody in Joseph's blessing,
26:24
that's the one with the fruit over the vine.
26:26
And, and I think it was very important to Nephi's people and
26:29
Lehi's people, yeah. Absolutely.
26:30
They are the tribe of Manasseh and Joseph.
26:33
Yeah. Ephraim and Joseph, I think God
26:37
as a shepherd is mentioned there in Genesis.
26:41
So we're. Getting these, Yeah.
26:43
So we're getting. These images here of the
26:45
shepherd of Israel, going back to the blessing to Joseph.
26:50
That's right. I think that's powerful.
26:52
So the idea of a shepherd comes from Genesis 49 verse 24.
26:57
And then of course, it's all through the Psalms as we've
27:00
mentioned. Of course, yes, the.
27:01
Lord is my shepherd. And so on.
27:03
Shepherd language again. We're talking about the Psalms.
27:06
Well, and King David, yeah, was the shepherd of his people.
27:09
So all of this would have been very well known to these people
27:11
who are familiar with the scriptural text in the Brass
27:13
Place. And you know that.
27:15
So kings in Babylon, way back in the old Babylonian period with
27:18
King Hammurabi, identified themselves as a Good Shepherd,
27:22
as the shepherd of his people. So this is a royal and a very
27:28
popular and impressive image. That has been used way before
27:34
the New Testament. Recognizing that the shepherd
27:36
cares and the shepherd is there and the shepherd counts and
27:40
knows and they know his voice and all of these things that
27:43
Jesus uses, these were commonly known to everyone he was
27:47
speaking to. Especially since many of them
27:50
are members of the church. They're reading their
27:51
scriptures. Yeah.
27:53
OK, What's your next section? OK, the next section is just
27:56
again verse 45. We have two questions on how we
27:59
can obtain spiritual knowledge. The first question is, do you
28:03
not suppose that I know of these things myself?
28:06
OK, I think President Nelson could ask us that question.
28:11
Don't you suppose I know what I'm talking about and you know
28:16
it doesn't say? Aren't you sure you know at this
28:19
point? Don't you suppose?
28:21
Aren't you willing to give me the benefit of the doubt?
28:24
Well, and then his second question follows up on the same.
28:26
How does he follow up? Behold, it's still in verse 45.
28:30
Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things,
28:34
wherever I have spoken, are true.
28:36
And how do you suppose that I know of their surety?
28:38
Yes, behold, I say unto you, this is verse 46.
28:41
They are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.
28:46
Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know of
28:50
these things of myself. Jack, this is so powerful
28:55
because it wasn't just the one experience with the Angel.
28:59
He's had to fast and pray about every one of these on a regular
29:02
basis. He's the same human like us.
29:04
We have undulations in our spirituality.
29:06
We question, we doubt. That's absolutely right.
29:08
What the Angel said to him is straighten up and you know, you
29:11
got to remember the captivity of your Father's, but you need to
29:15
repent. And then Alma knows this is
29:19
something he has to do. But then the work is yet ahead
29:21
of him. And of course, Alma could say, I
29:24
know this because I saw an Angel.
29:26
But he knows that all of the other people won't see an Angel.
29:29
That won't be their blessing or their calling.
29:31
But what he does tell them is that they can know as he also
29:35
has known through the power of the Holy Ghost.
29:38
And so he doesn't say any more than what they would be able to
29:44
experience themselves. It's the spirit of revelation,
29:48
and that's available to all who seek humbly, meekly before the
29:53
Lord. Well, my last group is actually
29:55
the final ten questions. Starting in what verse?
29:58
The starting with verse 53, we get through his explanation
30:03
there about how he knows and what he knows and how the Spirit
30:06
works. And how to repent, repent,
30:08
repent, repent. And then in this last group he
30:12
talks about why they have no reason to refuse to repent.
30:16
Ah, so he has now put them on notice and they will not be
30:24
found guiltless. You know, once you hear and know
30:28
something, you're responsible and you now have to make a
30:32
choice one way or another. And he's then leaving it with
30:37
them and it says, you know, I can't think of a single reason
30:42
why you should refuse to repent. Can you think of of a good
30:47
reason? So look at the.
30:47
Attacks. They're costly.
30:49
Apparel again. Yeah, but let's think of what he
30:51
says. Yeah, verse 53.
30:53
Can you withstand these sayings? All right, first you've got to
30:56
begin and say, can you argue with Elma on this?
30:58
Can you find any flaws with what he's saying?
31:01
He says, Can you trample the Holy One under your feet?
31:04
Can you, I hope not, Puffed up in the pride of your hearts, can
31:07
you still persist in wearing costly apparel and setting your
31:10
hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?
31:14
I just feel like this is so applicable to our day and age.
31:17
And then 54 will you persist in supposing that you're better
31:21
than one another. Don't compare yourself with
31:24
others. That one thing you know if if
31:27
you don't think you're better or worse.
31:29
Or worse, I think. I think the worst is is as.
31:31
Unhealthy as. Unhealthy as.
31:33
Worse, of course, will you persist, you know, in
31:37
persecuting your brethren, especially the humble ones who
31:40
walk after the holy order of God.
31:43
That's that priesthood phrase that Alma will use as the high
31:48
priest where with they've been brought into this church and
31:51
have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit and they do bring forth
31:55
works which are meat for repentance.
31:57
So and then in verse 55, he adds one more again with kind of an
32:03
illusion back here to King Benjamin's speech.
32:05
Will you persist in turning your back upon the poor and the
32:10
needy, and in withholding your substance from them?
32:14
That's a Benjamin phrase. He wants us to give to the poor.
32:18
He wants us to go back to a Zion society.
32:21
And the last three questions are in verses 58 and 59.
32:26
What are they? Well, he first says, I want to
32:28
write your names in the book of life, you know, for the names of
32:31
the righteous shall be written in the book of life.
32:34
And then the question, I think goes along with that.
32:37
But do you think that after he gives this speech?
32:40
People had to write their now. They're already in the Covenant
32:43
book. Well, some are.
32:44
Some are going to be invited. But some may be.
32:46
We'll see. But he invites them.
32:47
For me, it's a weekly need to be renewed, so perhaps that's where
32:51
he is, but then he goes on with this question.
32:53
The names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life,
32:56
and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand.
33:01
Of course. What did?
33:02
What have you to say against this?
33:05
Can we argue against that and can anybody claimed that God
33:10
will not be generous and grant an inheritance to those who were
33:15
found on His right hand? Everyone who wants to come and
33:20
will submit themselves to the will of the Lord.
33:23
Verse 59. What shepherd is there having
33:26
many sheep? Does not watch over them that
33:29
the wolves enter not and devour his flock?
33:33
In that verse, do things come to mind?
33:36
How about Ammon Alma's? Brother, at the same time that
33:40
this is happening someplace else, we'll get a flashback on
33:42
that one later. But we will.
33:44
But in addition to that, how does King Benjamin end his talk
33:51
at the end of Chapter 5? He says, if you do not have your
33:56
name, if you do not take upon yourself the name of Christ and
34:00
serve him, how knoweth the man the master whom he hath not
34:04
served? But he will cast you out of his
34:07
flock, and you will not be counted among him.
34:11
And. So now the flock will include us
34:13
again as the last question. Benjamin's words there.
34:18
If the wolf enter his flock, doth he not drive him out?
34:22
And that's the final question. And what?
34:25
Do you make of that? Well, the wolves are all around
34:28
us. I feel like false teachings.
34:30
Satan is so clever and he's using the same strategies he
34:34
used all through the time. We have got to know the Good
34:37
Shepherd in order to avoid the fly the wolves.
34:40
And don't we often say, I know the wolves are all there and
34:45
I'll drive them out, I'm strong enough, no.
34:48
No, no, no. It's the Savior.
34:50
I. Am mighty if a sheep tries to
34:52
drive out a wolf by smiling or saying why don't you come and
34:58
have dinner or he'll be the dinner.
35:02
But that's an interesting way to end, you know, as as a final
35:05
question, well. That's his final question, but
35:08
his ending, he's a testimony. He bears a strong testimony.
35:11
Yeah, how does he end with his testimony?
35:13
This is what you read at the beginning.
35:15
Come and be baptized under repentance, that ye may be
35:18
partakers of the fruit of the tree of life.
35:22
And I guess as he finishes that talk, we know he did not repeat
35:27
the same one when he went to Gideon.
35:33
Chapter 6 is this little teeny interlude.
35:35
It's very, very short. It says he baptizes a lot of
35:37
people. Again, he's doing it by the
35:39
laying on of hands, by ordinances.
35:42
He's ordaining priests. The church is growing.
35:46
We've got more than the Zarahemla stake right now, it
35:48
sounds like. But interestingly, when he gets
35:51
over to the land of Gideon now, Gideon has already been slain by
35:55
Nihor in chapter one. But the people of Gideon from
35:58
the Limhite group are have settled a distance from
36:02
Zarahemla. And it's interesting that he
36:05
tells them, I'm so glad you're not as wicked as they are in
36:08
Zarahemla. I'm so glad you're a good people
36:10
who are following the teachings of Christ.
36:12
And I think these people have been through bondage.
36:15
Even if it were a half a generation before or maybe a
36:17
full generation before, it's still just nine or ten.
36:21
It says it's all happening in the ninth year of the reign of
36:23
the. Church, they remember.
36:24
They remember. What it was like and how they
36:26
were delivered by God. Yeah, and I think they're living
36:28
the commandments. And so his talk is very
36:30
different. He gives a very encouraging talk
36:33
about the Savior as Atonement. And and how else is it
36:37
different? These people were led by Gideon.
36:43
How did Gideon die? He was slain by Nihor.
36:46
And we talked about that in Alma chapter one.
36:49
So Alma, who was the judge who put Nahor to death, is now
36:56
coming back to that city. And he doesn't say I'm your
37:01
hero. I think Alma is very self
37:04
effacing here. He he doesn't even want to
37:07
remind people of how difficult that was, although they have
37:10
all, I'm sure, gone through a very long period of mourning and
37:14
missing Gideon. Now he may have died in the
37:17
meantime, he was old, but he died the way he did.
37:20
Must have been a point of alienation and frustration from
37:23
these for these people who had come from the land of Nephi with
37:29
Gideon and called it the city of Gideon.
37:33
Well, that's so interesting that you brought that out because
37:35
notice that he says I haven't been able to come to you because
37:39
I was the chief judge. So even though he's self
37:43
effacing, even though he's saying I didn't, I didn't kill
37:45
the man who murdered. I didn't have the man put to
37:47
death who murdered your great leader.
37:50
I had other duties. But he said I he's just making
37:54
that little reference. I was the chief judge, but now I
37:57
have removed myself from that position and I have just wanted
38:00
to come and preach to you. And I'm so glad that I can come
38:02
as the high priest and I can share the gospel message of our
38:06
Savior with you. And that's just what he does.
38:09
It's just beautiful. But in verse three, I love how
38:13
Alma talks about coming with great hopes.
38:17
He is hopeful. We know Alma is faithful, but he
38:22
begins by saying, I am so hopeful that you will be able to
38:27
humble yourselves and by supplicating God that I will
38:31
find that you're blameless before Him and you're not being
38:34
critical of what's gone on here. This this is not your home.
38:38
You, you, you, you know, you were trying to be integrated.
38:42
These are immigrants in a way, they're outsiders to this
38:45
culture. But and I hope that you're not
38:47
going to find yourself in the awful dilemma that our brethren
38:51
were in at Sarah Hemla and they were the dilemma.
38:55
That means that you're divided in two.
38:58
And when you face a dilemma, it's it's a choice.
39:01
You have to go either this way or that way, and Alma's saying I
39:05
don't want you to be divided the way they were.
39:08
And he says in verse six, I trust that ye have not set your
39:11
hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world.
39:15
I trust that you do not worship the things made by your hands.
39:18
You know I this is so powerful for us as well.
39:21
I feel like this could be a General Conference talk in 2024.
39:24
I love how he's not only hopeful, but he now has
39:28
confidence and he says I trust that you will do this, that I
39:33
trust you. Isn't it wonderful to be trusted
39:36
by someone? And because he trusts them, I
39:38
think the Spirit allows him now to teach about their Savior.
39:42
But I do think there are some new things here.
39:43
Let's spot some things that you haven't heard before as we go
39:46
through. Verse 7.
39:48
Behold, the time is not yet far distant that the Redeemer who
39:51
liveth and cometh among his people.
39:54
So this is about 83 years before the Savior's birth.
39:58
That's. Right.
39:58
And he says in verse 8, but I'm not going to say that he's going
40:01
to come to us during his mortal life, but he will come after his
40:07
resurrection. And I looked that up, I checked
40:09
that back. Lehi says it.
40:11
We had it three or four times before here that he will come,
40:15
but not during his mortal life. That's right.
40:17
So he wants to reinforce that. He also says more that he knows
40:21
about Christ. He says repent and walk in the
40:25
ways of the Lord and walk in his paths, which are straight.
40:27
The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
40:29
Who's that coming from? Yeah, I don't know who is it
40:31
from. But make his path straight is
40:33
Isaiah. Oh, of course it is.
40:35
Yeah. And who quotes that when Alma
40:37
says, Repent ye and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his
40:41
paths, which are straight? Well, he's using the same
40:45
passage in Isaiah chapter 40 that John the Baptist had used.
40:51
And Lehigh says that a prophet would come to prepare the way
40:56
for the Messiah, and even he should go forth and cry in the
40:59
wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord and make the path
41:01
straight. Alma knows this passage from
41:05
Lehigh's words. And that it's prophesying of the
41:07
Savior's birth. And then he goes and talks about
41:09
the birth itself in verse 10. Behold, he shall be born of
41:12
Mary, and that is also part of King Benjamin's.
41:16
The Angel tells him, I think her name will be Mary.
41:19
And then he goes on and says something that only you would
41:21
say if you were living in a different continent at
41:25
Jerusalem, which is the land of our forefathers.
41:28
You know, everyone who's a Christian would know he's born
41:31
in Bethlehem. But if you're dealing with this
41:33
from far, far away, he's born in the land of our forefathers.
41:37
And how far is Bethlehem from Jerusalem?
41:39
6-7 miles. As the bird flies, it's less,
41:42
yeah. Yeah, they did talk about
41:44
Jerusalem as not just the city, the wall, of course.
41:47
The land. It's also because people come in
41:50
from the land into the walled city, into the temple, and
41:53
they're all a part of Jerusalem. Yeah, yeah, but she's a virgin,
41:57
precious chosen vessel who shall be overshadowed and conceived by
42:02
the power of the Holy Ghost and bring forth a son.
42:05
Yeah, even the Son of God. The next verses, 11/12/13, is
42:09
when we get the beautiful imagery of the atonement.
42:13
And I think that this capsulizes our Savior's atonement.
42:17
When you asked me to look for something new.
42:19
I don't know if we find each of these.
42:22
I couldn't find any other reference to some of these.
42:25
That the Savior will take upon our pains.
42:28
I think this is unique to the Book of Mormon right here by
42:31
Alma. Benjamin talks about the
42:32
redemption, but not in such clarity or in such expansive
42:37
terms as these. This is wonderful and starting
42:40
in verse 11. And he shall go forth, suffering
42:43
pains and afflictions, and temptations of every kind.
42:48
And this, that the word might be fulfilled, which saith that he
42:51
will take upon himself the pains and the sicknesses of his
42:56
people. So is there anything?
42:58
I mean, we know that he's suffered on the cross.
43:02
He suffered in Gethsemane, but when it says he suffers for
43:08
everything. Oh, I, I when John the Baptist
43:10
was beheaded, it says he tried to go away by himself to pray
43:14
and mourn at this loss. And when he's saying woe unto
43:19
you, hypocrite, I'm sure he is in pain.
43:22
Knowing, if he hadn't already, would soon bear and know that.
43:27
Yes. This is the infinite atonement.
43:30
We with our finite minds, we, we can scarcely grasp it.
43:35
And as we know, it's infinite in probably an infinite number of
43:40
ways, but it certainly applies infinitely to all of the pains
43:44
and sufferings and in all times and places and of all people.
43:50
And that's why He has the power to redeem us.
43:53
Well, and the word redeem means to buy back.
43:56
As we've said before, he's paid the price.
43:59
And because of that, the laws of justice as well as the law of
44:04
mercy can apply. And verse 12 says he is filled
44:09
with mercy, so the law of mercy allows him to know.
44:14
It says in the end of verse 12, according to the flesh, how to
44:18
sucker his people for their infirmities.
44:21
I love we don't use sucker very much anymore, but doesn't it
44:24
mean to run to? But not just to say hello.
44:28
Sucker also means to run with relief to come to the aid.
44:32
Immediately I'm here for you. And so then in verse 13 he says
44:36
the Spirit knows all things and he can blot out our
44:40
transgressions. That is the powerful part when
44:43
we can. Then in verse 14 he goes back to
44:45
the theme from King Benjamin being born again.
44:48
Yeah, and in Benjamin's covenant, if you do not take
44:53
upon yourself this name, your. Name will be plotted, plotted
44:57
out. That's just what he uses.
44:58
You're right, he's born in King Benjamin.
45:00
Except it be through transgression.
45:02
Yes, blotted out through transgression.
45:04
So he verse 14, he says you must repent and be born again.
45:08
Is that word born again? Is that in King Benjamin's
45:12
speech? Oh yeah, we talked about it 100
45:14
times. And chapter 5 that they were
45:17
born again. In verse 15, I love this, I say
45:21
unto you, come and fear not, lay aside.
45:23
Every sin which doth easily doesn't beset you.
45:28
Our sins do come easily. The natural man is always with
45:32
us which doth bind you down to destruction.
45:35
You know, these these things that come are so damaging.
45:39
Just as Alma has promised us the infinite powers and benefits of
45:44
the Atonement, he now wants us to also exercise as best we can
45:51
are complete repentance, and not just the big things, but he says
45:55
to lay aside every sin and these things that easily beset us.
46:01
So these are the little things. But we have to be pure in all
46:05
respects and do the best we can, because these little things will
46:10
bind us down to destruction. But but how do we get away from
46:14
it? We do so by being willing to
46:19
repent and to enter into a covenant and that word willing.
46:24
We'll see that in covenant language.
46:26
Alma uses it at the waters of Mormon.
46:28
Alma Benjamin used it and. Now we're getting it right here.
46:32
Jesus will use it in the sacrament prayers.
46:35
See, it doesn't say that we will guarantee that we absolutely
46:41
will keep every commandment. We can't make a promise like
46:44
that. But what we can promise is that
46:46
we are willing. We really want it.
46:51
So again, I think Benjamin has used this word and Alma wants to
46:57
reinforce that as they are renewing this covenant
47:00
relationship. And Alma next inserts a
47:03
question. Jack, we haven't had many, but
47:05
here in verse 17. And now, my beloved brethren, do
47:10
you believe these things? That's good.
47:12
And I want to mention brethren here.
47:15
This text is translated by Joseph Smith.
47:17
And so we're using Joseph Smith's vocabulary.
47:20
And in one of the letters that Joseph wrote home in December of
47:23
1838 from Liberty Jail, he says now, brethren, and he says, when
47:29
I say brethren, I mean men, women and children who believe
47:34
in Christ. So I think when we read these
47:37
words here, we are talking about discipleship, we are not talking
47:42
about gender. And he's saying, do you believe
47:45
these things? He's asking everyone in his
47:47
audience. Alma finishes by then saying,
47:51
answering his own question. Do you believe these things?
47:54
Yes, I I know that you believe them.
47:56
I perceive that your path, you are in the paths of
47:59
righteousness. He compliments them.
48:01
He he says, I perceive that you are making his paths straight.
48:05
I perceive that it has been made known unto you by the testimony
48:09
of the word over and over. I perceive, I perceive, I
48:12
perceive. And he is now acting as a a
48:15
witness, validating. I perceive that you get this
48:19
when you know, when we talk to people and you, you want to
48:23
recognize what they have done. A way of thanking them is to
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acknowledge these details. Alma does that very well here.
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And Alma is perceiving them through the gift of the Spirit.
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It's through the Holy Ghost that He is receiving a witness that
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they are willing to become stronger disciples of of their
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Savior. So what does he want to do?
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Verse 22? I've said these things that I
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might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God.
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That you may walk blameless before him.
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That you may walk after the holy order of God, after which he had
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been received. The holy order is the higher
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priesthood. These are the covenants of of
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the temple. This is the law of consecration.
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I want you to live a humble and that's where he goes in verse
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23. I want you to be humble and
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submissive and gentle and patience and long-suffering and
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temperance. It sounds a little bit like King
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Benjamin again, doesn't it it? Does notice that he doesn't
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overstate this? I just want to awaken you to a
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sense of your duty. OK.
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That's a first step to just know that there is a duty, what it
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might be. Sometimes we don't learn until
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we're actually out there doing things and see how it works.
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And he finishes this beautiful sermon with a blessing on their
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heads. Starting in verse 25, and may
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the Lord bless you and keep your garments spotless, the E may at
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last be brought to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and
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the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began
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having your garments spotless, even as their garments are
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spotless in the Kingdom of heaven, to go out no more.
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Have you been in meetings where Apostolic blessings have been
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given? Oh, I have, I think many people
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have. I hope most have.
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And the apostles take that opportunity as a special part of
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their stewardship. And they're different, every one
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of them. And he even ends with.
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And now may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your
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houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds.
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And I, I, and then he says, and thus I have spoken.
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Amen. Now he, he delivers this great
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hopeful blessing, and it's appropriate for all of us.
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All of us can receive more understanding about Jesus Christ
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as we strive to come unto Him and have our garments unspotted
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through the blood of the Lamb. In the name of Jesus Christ,
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Amen.