Latest / Scripture Central / Alma 39–42 | Aug 5–11 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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Alma 39–42 | Aug 5–11 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Hello and welcome back to Scripture Central.
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We're thrilled to be able to talk about the book of Alma
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today. His blessings to his son, Corrie
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Anton. It takes over 4 chapters.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, and this is.
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I'm Jack Welch. And these chapters are just
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powerful message for all of us on repentance, the questions
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that His Son had on the resurrection, the timing of the
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resurrection, the restoration of good and bad, and the plan of
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mercy of our Savior. These are questions that I think
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are not unique to Him. And I hope that you can find
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answers to your questions and your prayers in the text this
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week as you study. These chapters are very
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impressive and I can't think of a time when I have tried to
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wrestle with a text been more rewarding, deeper and more
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logically eloquent as it moves from one point to another.
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The inspiration and the guidance of this building on a whole line
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of prophecies and words. Starting Back with Jacob talks
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about some of these concepts and then Abinadai and others.
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And Alma compiles them all. And for you to say that as an
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attorney who likes to have evidence and to prove a point
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can see in this text of Alma drawing on his forefathers
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because the Angel told him. Remember your forefathers to put
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together this theological doctrinal masterpiece in this
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blessing to his son Corianton, who was very young.
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We're told Heelman was in his youth, so this means this fellow
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is probably in his late teens or something.
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Absolutely, and Alma liked to use the word plan probably more
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than anyone else. Yes, and we'll come across that
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so many times. The plan of redemption.
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The plan of mercy. And back in Alma chapter 12 and
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13 in Amaniah, he talks about the plan of redemption, the plan
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of redemption. There's seven times there that
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he talks about this plan of redemption.
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But now what he realizes is that the process of redemption and
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the plan of God is not just at one instantaneous thing, but it
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it goes through a series of steps of progression.
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And that's why he now will talk about many different parts of
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that plan and call each one a plan.
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And we'll talk about that as we come across them, each one in
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each verse. So read carefully and.
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Let's go and look for that. Where?
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Do we start with chapter 39? Well, this is sort of amazing.
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We've got 8 1/2 pages on this one.
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Blessing to this son who's a little wayward.
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And the first chapter is a called Repentance.
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And he's, he does something that I would never have done as a
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parent. He says, why don't you look at
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your brother for a good example? I, I don't think that works in
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our generation. Maybe it did then, but it sounds
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as if his son had left the mission field.
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Well, first of all, it says in verse two, he was boasting.
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So there's the first problem is there's a little pride.
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He's boasting of his strength and his wisdom.
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And then in verse three, he forsakes the ministry.
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He actually leaves the mission. He leaves their country and goes
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over to the Lamanite lands after a harlot, Isabel.
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Now, some people have suggested this may have been an ideology
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rather than a a harlot in our definition, but whatever it is,
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it is a gross enough sin that he needs to talk about repentance
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in very clear fashion. Also, we, we mentioned last
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time, you know, that Helaman is probably around 20 or in his
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early 20s. That means Coriantin is probably
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maybe 1716. I don't know.
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But he can't be very old. And, and you know, in our youth,
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we do foolish things. The Lord is merciful and we
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learn. And maybe that's part of the
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reason that Alma is, is wanting to be sure that Coriantin has
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repented successfully. He realizes that seriousness of
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what had happened. And he does repent successfully.
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We hear that he goes out and serves a mission.
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We hear that he does other great things.
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We hear his name again and again.
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So we start, though, with the importance of repentance.
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Well, and he also lists the importance of sexual purity.
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He says this is such, this is verse five and six.
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And he says this is such a horrific sin in the sight of
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God, and he rates them. He says, you know, the only two
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that are worse are murder and the denying of the Holy Ghost.
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And that is unpardonable. And he also, you know, makes
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clear that you have to realize that you can't hide.
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And most sexual sins are are, of course, done in private.
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And you think, well, nobody's watching or something like that.
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But first thing Alma says is you cannot hide.
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Your sins, he says, will stand as a testimony against you.
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So I think that that's a very sobering reality.
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Now, they may not stand against you in this life, but Alma will
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talk about the resurrection and about things that there's more
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beyond just this life. And I think it's partly to say
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there's there's not going to be a place where sin will not be
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uncovered. It will all be open.
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The books will be open. Our lives will be open.
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And and then the real justice and mercy of God can be done.
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In fact, he says, I don't want to dwell on your crimes.
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Let's move on to repent. And then he talks about
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repentance. And I love this definition of
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repentance. I'm going to start in verse 13,
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that ye turn to the Lord with all your mind, might and
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strength, and that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do
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wickedly, but rather return unto them and acknowledge your faults
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and that wrong you have done. Remember, his sin also led the
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missionary work to fail. It wasn't just a personal sin.
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It affected his Father's ministry.
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It affected all 7 companions. And I think that's quite
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remarkable that here, Alma, he had trouble there in Antionem
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and it turns out to be really bad.
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And he does remind Corry Anton that, you know, this was a
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problem and maybe would would have done better.
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But he doesn't dwell on that and he doesn't hold that against
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him. He just wants to be sure that
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repentance and mercy and justice all are properly served.
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And I think sometimes we're, you know, we're too quick to judge.
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You hurt me by doing that. And we, we are generous and I
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think Alma really does model generosity here.
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I love the fact that he knows how to repent so well because he
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has had to do it so deeply. Look at that.
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Yeah, he's been there. And that's why he says you've
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got to have your whole mind and strength and might, you know,
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this is not just haphazardly. OK, I won't do it again.
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Absolutely not. Repentance is a desire in your
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heart to only serve God. You have no more will to do
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evil. And I think it's powerful that
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then in verse 15, he turns to talk about the coming of Christ,
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because the whole way that we can repent is when we understand
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our Savior as a Redeemer. And he describes that he will
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take away the sins of the world and that this glad tidings of
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his salvation. That's all verse 15, but going
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down to verse 17, behold, I say unto you, is not one soul at
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this time as precious unto God as another?
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So the Father knew his Son's questions and his son was
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asking, when's the timing of the resurrection?
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And he goes on. The whole chapter 40 is all on
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this timing of the resurrection. Well, and it's not just the
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timing. It's the fact of what was it,
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you know, How does this work? But I think part of Cory Anton's
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question here is, are we as important as people who live?
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Who will live after the coming of Christ?
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Or will we receive the same grace that they will receive?
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How can we take advantage of an atonement that hasn't happened
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yet? Or if it's so important, why
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haven't we been brought into the why hasn't Christ come yet?
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So he's, he's concerned about the timing of his coming, but it
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has to do. The answer to his question is
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that is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as the soul
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will be at the time of his coming.
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In other words, our time before the coming of Christ, we're just
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as important as people afterward.
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And I think that that is an interesting introduction to what
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we might call dispensationalism, that we believe in different
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dispensations of the gospel and that the world Jesus will come
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in the Meridian of time, but there will be lots of
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dispensations and that they are all equally important to God.
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So I, I, I like what he says here.
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And I can understand why Coriantan might have had that as
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a question. How's this going to really work?
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And and if we aren't that important, then why is it
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important that we take this seriously?
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Well, I feel like it's one reason why he talks so much on
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the resurrection starting in chapter 40.
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This is verse one. I perceive that thy mind is
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worried concerning the resurrection.
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You know, he wants to describe it and he he said don't worry
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about the timing. And in fact, Alma was so careful
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on this, he wrote it into a beautiful chiastic structure
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starting from verses 3 to 9. You know, I've inquired
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diligently. I want to know what God wants
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here. And that's exactly it ends in
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verse 9 as well. This has not been an easy thing
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for me to come to. And I just want to say Jack has
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spent his whole life studying these things.
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I have spent many, many hours a day studying these things, but
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I've had seven kids too. So I haven't spent my whole life
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doing this, but on this when they're in nap time, during nap
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time, I have spent my life in the Scriptures and they don't
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come easily, but God will reward us when we inquire diligently.
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And he's asking here this question and he hasn't
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beautifully described that. He says it doesn't matter.
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The bottom line is the timing doesn't matter.
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It mattereth not to God whether there should be one time or a
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second time or a third time, because God knoweth.
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He wants us to trust in God. He wants us to have faith in the
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plan. And I think here in this section
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that you're talking about another really important part of
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what Corryanton must have been worried about is will the
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resurrection happen when Christ comes, he will be resurrected.
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Will everyone be resurrected then?
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And we know that some were there is.
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Oh yeah, the morning of the first resurrection started with
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the Savior. But what Alma says in verses 6
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and nine take special note of. He now understands that there
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will be a space, verse 6A space betwixt the time of death and
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the time of the resurrection. I think that's new knowledge for
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them. Well, and the reason why I think
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it's new is because his son thinks as soon as you die,
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you're resurrected. And Alma says, OK, we're using
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that word a little differently. Yes, you're going to continue
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living, but resurrection won't occur until after Christ.
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There is a space of time between everyone's death and everyone's
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resurrection and those before Christ.
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Yeah, I think this is very important.
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And this will also then mean that there is a time before sin
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and the judgement. Oh, definitely.
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That's part of the merciful plan.
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That's from the Garden of Eden. We have here, we know that there
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will be this this time and in verse 14 that there will be a
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paradise that the righteous will be in until the time of their
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resurrection. Just a minute before you go
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further, in verse 11, we get a glimpse of the pre mortal life
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and I don't know how many verses in the Book of Mormon talk about
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the pre mortal life, but this is very happy to me to see it.
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Here he's talking about the state of the soul between death
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and the resurrection. He says yeah, the spirits of all
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men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God
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who gave them life. So it's just a hint of it.
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And then it goes on to the paradise as you mentioned in
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verses 12, he mentions paradise, but there's only two general
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possibilities. According to Alma's blessing
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here, you either are going to end up the wicked with the devil
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or the righteous with the Lord. But there is this space of time,
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time for repentance, so we can choose which one we're going to
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be sealed to. And, and by the way, when you go
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to chapter 13, back to chapter 13 of Alma, he does talk about
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the plan of redemption, which Alma is now going to elaborate
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further on. He there talks about the
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ordination of priests who were ordained to His holy order after
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a manner where they were called and prepared from the foundation
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of the world according to God's foreknowledge of what should
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happen. Oh there's a pre mortal?
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Yes, very much so. And and in the 1st place he says
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they were left to choose good or evil.
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So now this point of choice, all of this is I think prelude to
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what Alma's talking about now in 40.
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He's extending it now from the pre mortal to now the
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resurrection. And the continuity in Alma's 10
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sermons tends this is not a sermon, but his, the 10
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speeches, whatever that we have from him, his 10 words, 10
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messages is so consistent. We see this thread and as you
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can see his thoughts growing and maturing.
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It's it's even more clear here. These are some of the his best
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chapters. He also wants to, as you know,
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emphasize the importance of the resurrection of the.
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Body. Well, he defines first
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resurrection a little differently than we do in the
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Restoration. You know, we've got the benefit
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of the Doctrine Covenant, section 456376.
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They all define that the first resurrection is the resurrection
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of the just. It's the resurrection from the
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time of Christ until the end of the Millennium, but they're
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trying to figure it out here. That's right, he understands
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again that there will be a first resurrection.
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That's in verse 15. And 16 and 17.
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Then after that, there will be another resurrection.
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So once again, he's seeing this as a process and all of it's not
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going to happen at once, but it will happen in the right time
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and in the right place for everyone, and they will be given
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time in order to to repent. Yeah.
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And he, he's defining then that the death is different.
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In verse 18, what he's referring to is the reuniting of the soul
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and the body from the days of Adam until the resurrection of
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Christ. So there we finally get it
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clear. But this space is also talked
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about in verse 21. There is a space between death
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and the resurrection. And that then becomes his next
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theme is on how we are restored in the next verse.
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Chapter, which begins at the end of verse 23, where he starts
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using this word restore, but first in a bodily sense, that
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the body and the soul must be restored to each other, and not
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one hair of the head shall be lost, but shall be restored to
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their proper and perfect frame. So that's one kind of
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restoration that has been spoken of.
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We're so happy for all of us who have deformities and challenges,
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and everyone of us, and some more than others.
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This is such a happy, glorious state that the Lord will give.
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Us and then also the wicked that in verse 26 that they will be
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restored to the state of and wickedness if that's their final
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condition. For they die.
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As to things pertaining, things of righteousness, that's tragic.
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So now he's introduced this word restoration.
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Yeah, it's a little different than Joseph Smith's restoration.
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Indeed, the word restoration can mean several things.
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To bring back, to build as it used to be or in other times and
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places to restore step by step a building.
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When you rebuild, restore a building, you restore the
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foundation and then you restore the walls.
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And then it can be a long, complicated process.
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And I think that Alma sees this restoration is not just an
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instant kind of thing. The resurrection may be an
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instant moment, but it's a part of the plan of restoration,
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which is a part of a big process.
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But now in chapter 41, Alma then takes the next step on
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understanding what this plan is going to involve, and he has to
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correct Corry Anton, because there are some people who
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understand the word restoration in a different way.
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And we have to realize that the people who followed Nahor had a
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different idea of what it meant to be restored.
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We learned about Nahor's doctrine in Alba chapter one,
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and he was teaching that everyone would die.
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We came down and there was the fall and we would die and we
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will all because we all started in a state of glory or goodness.
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Well, I'll be returned to that. Restored means that we'll be put
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back in that that situation. And this is at least, you know,
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17 years later, and those thoughts have trickled and
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percolated around the Nephite nation enough that Corry Anton
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now has questions about them. And I think this is one reason
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why his dad is addressing them is because he's confused.
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Aren't we all going to be saved? Isn't that the whole beautiful
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plan? Verse 10 of chapter 41, he says,
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do not suppose because it has been spoken of as concerning a
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restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.
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And this is where he says wickedness never was happiness,
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and you will not be restored from this physical or carnal
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state to a spiritual state. Why should you not suppose that?
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The reason is that's what Nahor had been teaching, and so Alma
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here offers a more accurate and more useful definition of what
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it means to be restored. And this is where we have
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another very interesting chiasm in order to correct this
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problem, which Alma has articulated very clearly in
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verses 11:50 on the meaning of the word restoration.
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It's not to take something and put it back into an unnatural
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state or place it in a state that is opposite to its nature.
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Having said that, Alma then begins, Oh my son, this is not
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the case. The meaning of the word
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restoration is to bring back evil for evil, carnal for
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carnal, devilish for devilish. Now that's on the bad side.
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But then he turns to the good side.
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And here's where the chiasm really concludes in its most
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articulate form. And he says good for good,
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righteous for righteous, just for just merciful for merciful.
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And then he takes those four things.
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And then he says starting in the opposite order, just as you will
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get merciful if you are merciful, then he says be
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merciful. And then he says, deal justly
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and judge righteously and do good continually.
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And if you do those four things, then you will get the reward.
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You will then get mercy, you will get justice, you will have
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a righteous judge, and you will get good rewarded.
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You go in through, in effect, a list of four pairs, and then you
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go through two lists of those four things in the opposite
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order. You have the doubling first and
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then a single order. Single order.
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Yes, and this was one of the Chiasms that I found more or
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less when I was on my mission. I remember reading on a German
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train on my way back from Munich in Alma as I kept reading on I.
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I saw these words and I was reading it in German and I
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thought, wow, this is pretty close to a Caius, but it's not
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exactly. Well, it wasn't until I got home
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and I read it in English that I said, well, what was I thinking?
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It's exactly right here. But in fact, the German had used
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different synonyms for some of these words, so it didn't look
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like it was exact as it really is.
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Oh, fabulous. So look it up on our archives or
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on BYU studies to see it in more detail.
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Let's move on now to the next chapter, 42.
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This is one of my favorite chapters on the discussion of
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justice and mercy. This is one of the most profound
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and articulate and well reasoned as well as inspired sections, I
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think, in all of the scriptures. I remember a time when Noel
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Reynolds put together a conference sponsored by an
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organization called the Liberty Fund in Indianapolis.
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They give grants to small groups of scholars who wish to come
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together and spend a week in a retreat talking about a
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particular topic, usually related in some way to liberty.
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And Noel proposed that they might get a group together of
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whoever wants to come to talk about justice in the Book of
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Mormon. And we did.
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We had a group, there weren't very many of us as Latter Day
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Saints, but scholars who were interested in reading what does
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the Book of Mormon have to say about liberty and justice and so
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on. We spent the whole week reading
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different passages about justice and mercy.
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We read some passages from Lehigh and Nephi, King Benjamin.
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And then every afternoon at the end of that day's discussion, we
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would introduce briefly the next day's topic.
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And so on Thursday, the last night we would be together, we
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introduced and Noel explained that we will now read Alma
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Chapter 42 on justice and mercy and gave a little bit of
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explanation so they could kind of figure out where they were.
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And then they went off and did their homework.
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And I remember one of them coming into the meeting to the
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conference room the next morning and just being blown away and
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said this was the most incredible text.
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Why did you save this one for last?
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I said, well, we get the best for last.
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No, we should have done this one first.
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But I said, well, you can't understand it until you go
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through all the steps that lead up to the understanding of all
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these different plans, the plan of redemption, the plan of
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salvation. And now Alma's talking about the
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way in which justice and mercy work together.
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He said, no, but this was just so good.
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I wanted to spend the whole week looking at this from all these
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different perspectives, and I said, well, let's have another
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session on that. But anyway.
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But that was one reaction from someone who just was amazed at
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the quality of this of this work.
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Yeah, well, I'm fascinated that he starts this discussion on
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Justin and Mercy by going back to our first parents.
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We refer again to the Garden of Eden and he wants to talk about
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the lessons learned in Eden. It's not just that his son has a
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question about the resurrection. His son needs to understand the
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way back to the tree of life is when Christ says I am the way, I
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think he's referring back to this phrase that's found in
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Genesis chapter 3, that the tree of life is guarded.
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But the way to the tree of life is Jesus Christ.
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He is the way. The Garden of Eden story is
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interesting because we don't have a creation account in the
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Book of Mormon. And yet, as we look for the
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words that refer to our first parents, we find an enormous
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amount in the Book of Mormon. And if you remember back at the
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beginning of chapter 40 when Alma was talking about the
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timing of the resurrection and we said there must needs be a
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space betwixt the time of death and the time of resurrection.
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Alma will now bring that concept back into play in a concrete
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situation where what would have happened if Adam and Eve had
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been judged immediately? They've broken the law.
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God could have judged them. He is just.
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Why doesn't he judge them? In verse four he says, and thus
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we see that there was a time granted unto man to repent.
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Now that word granted, that means it was given a
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probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.
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In other words, as I was saying, a just God, if God was only
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just, he could have judged Adam and Eve immediately and said,
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you know, I'll get somebody else to do this and they'll do it,
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right. So Adam and Eve, we're done with
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you. Let's start with someone else.
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But that is the essence. The essence of mercy is giving
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time so that they can repent. Now, think about that in a
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judicial kind of context. You know, you can have a stay of
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judgment, you can have a probationary result where you're
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given time, even though the facts are so clear, the evidence
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is so strong, the judge could rule, but the judge says I will
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give time so that maybe something else can come forth.
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Now, we don't often do this, but God can.
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And that space of time is what I think is the essence of mercy.
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He will wait. He will let us try again.
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And we we sometimes think of mercy as being, well, He'll just
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forget it or he'll forgive us. He is a forgiving, loving person
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and he'll love us. But how does he love us?
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He loves us by giving us more time.
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Time to repent and serve God is what he says.
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So it's not just time to continue sinning.
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You know, we've got to use our time to serve God and to repent.
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So the plan of mercy is the plan of repentance.
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And I feel like this is the same message that comes again.
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This is why he's talking about the first parents.
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And let me reinforce this in verse 5.
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Great, please. Where he then says, all right,
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if Adam had put forth his hand immediately and had partaken of
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the fruit of the tree of life, he would have lived forever
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according to the word of God, having no space for repentance.
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This is why they could not partake of that fruit.
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And outside of the Book of Mormon, this is confused.
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I've studied enough with other faith traditions that the fall
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is not understood as we do in the Restoration because of
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Alma's description right here that the great plan of salvation
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would have been frustrated and in verse six he said they would
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have been lost forever and become a fallen man.
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This idea of the fall is something that is possibly
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mentioned in other places but clearly defined in the Book of
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Mormon. And as you look at the
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scriptures in the Book of Mormon is when we understand better not
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just the pre mortal life but the fall itself and the need for the
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plan of mercy with time to repent.
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Why is it a problem though? If if God is just just, why
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couldn't he have done what he says?
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And Alma then goes on in verse 8 to say, well, it's not expedient
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for man to have been reclaimed from the temporal death
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immediately because that would destroy the great plan of
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happiness. And it's not expedient, he says,
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to act too quickly on the side of justice, verse 12, because if
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there were no means to reclaim man and no chance for
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repentance, then verse 13, according to justice, the plan
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of redemption could not be brought about.
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So we have to have both justice and mercy.
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And the one does not rob the other or overwhelm the other,
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but the two can be accomplished because of the factor of
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temporal time, the sequence that allows the plan of justice to be
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accomplished. And I also feel like the plan of
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justice only works because God loves us.
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God is a God of mercy and a God of justice, and both work
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because he loves us. But mercy is for those who will
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repent, and justice is those who will not.
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But it's been interesting, Jack, we just read a few verses and
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read the plan of different plans.
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So I just did a little research on this and was fascinated to
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see across the whole text of the Book of Mormon how many
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different times this idea is mentioned.
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And Alma has the majority of them.
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But starting back in Second Nephi, we have the great and
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eternal plan of deliverance. Then Jacob starts mentioning it.
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Jacob mentions it both in Second Nephi and in his own book.
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He calls it the plan of redemption.
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He's the first one to call it that.
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He also calls it the merciful plan of the Great Creator, which
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I love according to your definition here.
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And Jacob also calls it the plan of our God.
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But then we get into the book of Alma, and Alma the Younger
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repeats it 12 times as the plan of redemption, and then once as
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the plan of salvation. And then we're getting here in
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chapter 41, the plan of restoration, in chapter 42,
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three times the great plan of happiness, and then in chapter
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42, verses 15 and 31, the plan of mercy or the great plan of
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mercy. And there may be a slight
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distinction here. I think if you look at what's
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happening here, the plan of redemption is when you are
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redeemed, when you are bought back.
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But salvific force being saved is being healed, and so the plan
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of salvation is also it's not just enough to be bought back,
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it's now to be made whole. Which is the whole point of the
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restoration that he's talking about and the resurrection.
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But I do think it's interesting he says now the plan of
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happiness because we've gone through that being bought back
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and the restoration. I see the plan of happiness as
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the fulfillment of those two. What do you think that means?
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How he's using the plan of happiness here in chapter 42
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verse 8 and 16? It seems to me that the the plan
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of happiness is something that Alma has brought into the
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discussion here. It doesn't appear before in the
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Book of Mormon. It's only in chapter 42, in the
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whole Book of Mormon, all of scripture.
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These are the only scriptures. What we what he's talking about
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there is the plan of happiness in verse eight is we must return
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to God in order to be truly happy.
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I agree we have to have the. Plan for blessedness and
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happiness will be. Found Amen.
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And the plan of happiness overcomes, he says, eternal
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punishment. So the plan of happiness makes
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it so that we won't ever be subject to any of these problems
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again. Now, the plan of mercy, of
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course, and the plan of justice bring us to those places.
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The plan of restoration is one of them that he talks about and
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he says it is required for the plan of justice.
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In other words, things must be restored as he's now defined the
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word restoration, good for good, evil for evil, and righteous for
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righteous. That's chapter 41, verse 2.
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So if we now just look at what Alma is focusing on in speaking
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to his son Corian. Just these 4 chapters.
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Just in these four chapters, we do have 10 times that Alma will
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talk about the plan of something being a high priest.
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This is an important number of perfection.
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And as you would recite or mention the name of Jehovah, as
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we've said before 10 times, Alma is now elevating the plan, I
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think, to that status of holiness, that this is God's
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divine plan. And it only can take him to pass
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through Jehovah through his promised Messiah.
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So I think that's a beautiful way to equate it to the 10 with
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the high priest. And like you say, these things
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could not occur without the atonement of Jesus Christ.
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And if he, of course, has explained that in even greater
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detail back in Alma chapters 12 and 13.
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But he knows that we and Corry Anton are well aware of that.
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Alma brings together all of the aspects of this plan of mercy
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and justice and redemption and so on by stressing in verse 13,
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if this were not so, the work of justice would be destroyed and
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that would mean that God would cease to be God.
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Now, I think that that's a very powerful logical implication
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that God has promised that this will be the plan, and if he
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doesn't see that the plan is able to operate, His word will
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not be fulfilled. And Jack, the plan of justice
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only works because we have agency.
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So God can be God only when he allows us to be a free agents of
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our own decisions, and then He will be just to us.
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That's of course, a big part of it.
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It goes on to say that not only must He allow us to have our
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agency, but again, He must give us a time to repent and then
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Mercy can claim us. And he says in verse 23, if this
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were not the case, God would cease to be God.
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And Mercy, however, does claim the penitent, and Mercy cometh
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because of the atonement, and the atonement bring us to pass
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the resurrection of the dead. And the resurrection of the dead
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brings men back into the presence of God, and thus they
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are restored to His presence. All of those steps.
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Come together in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
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That we be judged according to our works, according to the law
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and justice. I appreciate he defines
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atonement also that God himself atoneth for the sins of the
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world. I just cannot say enough about
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how important daily repentance is as our prophet has asked us,
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and using all of our heart and might and strength to come unto
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the Lord. This is a powerful chapter on
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how to remain a disciple of Christ and to receive the
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Savior's mercy. And so Alma ends all of this
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wonderful explanation in verse 27 with an admonition.
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O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the
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waters of life freely. That's a part of this plan of
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mercy and love that God provides, that whoever will come
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the same is not compelled to come, but in the last day it
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shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.
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And this is according to the restoration of God.
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So only let your sins trouble you to the extent that it will
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help you to be provoked to repentance.
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That's just beautiful. The imagery of waters of life is
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a great imagery for repentance. It's the cleansing.
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It's the power of the Spirit to come in and cleanse our souls,
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to take the atonement of Jesus Christ and to apply it to
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ourselves. Baptism is a beautiful imagery.
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Our sacrament is a beautiful imagery.
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But the waters of life also go back to John chapter four, woman
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at the well. You know that we Christ will
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give us this living water and it will not only cleanse us, but
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nourish us and allow us to have this beautiful gift of mercy.
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And with this conclusion, I think we can understand why that
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one scholar was so impressed with what happens here.
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Two things to mention. One is that remember that Alma
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began this whole discussion. He could have just jumped in
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with the plan of redemption, the plan of forgiveness, the plan of
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happiness. He starts with repentance, and
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then he starts with resurrection and the afterlife.
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And that without an understanding of the afterlife,
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you can't understand the full perspective and the
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accomplishment of the great eternal plan of our heavenly
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Father. And what then happens in chapter
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40 when he talks about the resurrection, taking that into
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the eternal sphere? Most philosophers and students
37:35
of justice would know that when Plato tries to explain to people
37:40
what is justice, he writes 10 books in the Republic and they
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all deal with the question, can you find justice here?
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Can you find it in your neighborhood?
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Can you find it in art? Can you find it in yourself?
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Can you look around? You can't find it in this world.
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Can you find it in a cave of darkness?
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No. In book 10, Plato ends the
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Republic and his search for justice in the next life.
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And it is only, he says, in the unseen world that we will
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finally be able to understand real justice.
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And what Alma does, he says you can only understand the plan of
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God and the plan of salvation when you understand the
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resurrection and what will happen in the next life.
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And that's where justice and mercy will really meet and how
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you can really make sense of all of this.
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Alma then goes and gives a charge to his son.
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He says don't excuse yourself in the least point because of your
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sins because you're denying the justice of God and his mercy.
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You know, we've got to repent in order to receive his mercy.
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And that and that little point, that one conclusion here, do you
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let the justice of God and his mercy and long-suffering have
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full sway in your heart and let it bring you down into the dust
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of humility or humanity or humanness?
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Now what he's saying there in that little conclusion, you have
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to get justice and mercy together.
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Most people think they are opposites, but here we
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understand that they are not. But justice is like the letter
39:16
of the law. Mercy doesn't rob justice.
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But as we've said in conclusion, and what I think he would have
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recognized as he had read through this, it is a plan that
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has many facets to it. And when they are all put
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together, this great plan is able to combine apparent
39:38
opposites. And remember that Lehigh had
39:40
said their needs must be an opposition in all.
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Things Second Nephi chapter 2. And he's there talking about
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Adam and Eve. He sees the principle that Alma
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now articulates in great abundance and fullness.
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He tells us and shows us the way we now can proceed and
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understand and not only receive mercy in our own lives by
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repenting. But how we can grant that to
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other people? And that's why he gives them the
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charge now to go be a missionary again.
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And that's where it ends. Verse 31 O my son, ye are called
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of God to preach the word unto this people.
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And now, my son, go thy way, but declare the word with truth and
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soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance.
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This is the last time the idea of the plan is mentioned in all
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Scripture. The great plan of mercy may have
40:33
claim upon them, and May God grant unto you even according to
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my words. So we testify that Alma, an
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inspired and true prophet, who learned the hard way, who
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learned the revealed way, who learned the intellectual way,
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who learned the social way, the fatherly way, he brings us
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throughout these words. And this is the last time we
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will really hear Alma speaking to us.
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What a great way to end with his testimony and his prayer, which
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we add and testify that the great plan of mercy will indeed
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bring us happiness and eternal life in the presence of God.
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And we will understand this, maybe not so much in this life,
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but certain in the world to come in the name of Jesus Christ,
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Amen. Amen.