The words of Alma which he delivered to the people in Gideon, according to his own record.
Comprising chapter 7.
Chapter 7
Christ will be born of Mary—He will loose the bands of death and bear the sins of His people—Those who repent, are baptized, and keep the commandments will have eternal life—Filthiness cannot inherit the kingdom of God—Humility, faith, hope, and charity are required. About 83 B.C.
1 Behold
my beloved brethren, seeing that I have been permitted to come unto
you, therefore I attempt to address you in my language; What does this mean? According to what he knows? yea, by my aown
mouth, seeing that it is the first time that I have spoken unto you by
the words of my mouth, I having been wholly confined to the bjudgment-seat, having had much business that I could not come unto you.
2 And even I could not have come now at this time were it not that the judgment-seat hath been agiven to another, to reign in my stead; and the Lord in much mercy Is it mercy for Alma or the people of Gideon? I think it's both. Alma would experience much personal anxiety for his people and be frustrated that he cannot teach them what he knows. And the people, because they are in need of pure powerful preaching and testimony hath granted that I should come unto you.
3 And
behold, I have come having great hopes and much desire that I should
find that ye had humbled yourselves before God, and that ye had
continued in the supplicating of his grace, that I should find that ye
were blameless before him, Is this the principle of walking blameless before God? 1. Humble yourself before God 2. Continue in prayer daily asking for His grace. Grace is the divine means of unmerited help we receive through Christ and His Atonement. There is more to this statement than we understand...The prophet’s desire for them to remain righteous: be humble; pray for God’s grace; walk blameless (other scriptures say we do this by caring for the poor) that I should find that ye were not in the
awful adilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla. who were suffering from pride. We can assume that humility, prayer and charity are the way to prevent pride. As James Ferrell says, "we must value peace more than conflict" to live this way.
4 But
blessed be the name of God, that he hath given me to know, yea, hath
given unto me the exceedingly great joy of knowing that they are
established again in the way of his righteousness. We can overcome pride. The word of God is powerful and can have a great effect on people. His language makes is sound like his knowing this comes from God more than from the people. Makes sense since only God really knows our hearts.
5 And
I trust, according to the Spirit of God which is in me, that I shall
also have joy over you; nevertheless I do not desire that my joy over
you should come by the cause of so much afflictions and sorrow which I
have had for the brethren at Zarahemla, for behold, my joy cometh over
them after wading through much affliction and sorrow. Important to note that joy is always out there, though the path to it may be rocky. That is our hope!
6 But
behold, I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were
your brethren; I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your
hearts; yea, I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and
the vain things of the world; yea, I trust that you do not worship aidols, but that ye do worship the true and the bliving God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come. If these are already baptized members, notice they still have to look forward to a "remission of sins". Again...this doesn't happen through water baptism.
List of things to not do:
-not believe
-pride in your heart
-heart set upon riches and vain things of the world
-worship idols
List of things TO do:
- worship the true and living God
- look forward for the remission of your sins (baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost)
- look forward for the gift of an everlasting faith; know it will come
7 For
behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there
is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the atime is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. 83 years!
8 Behold, I do not say that he will come among us at the atime
of his dwelling in his mortal tabernacle; for behold, the Spirit hath
not said unto me that this should be the case. Now as to this thing I do
not know; but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do
all things which are according to his word. Here we learn that the Spirit of the Lord can make many things known to his prophets. But He does not make ALL things known. A humble prophet acknowledges that. We can all say, “...this much I do know...” I wish Pres. Nelson would have said, "I do not know that the vaccine is a miracle from God, for the Spirit hath not said unto me this is the case...This thing I do not know; but this much I do know...if you ask Him, He can tell you what you should do, for the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to his word. Trust HIM. Hear HIM. (not government or health leaders)
9 But behold, the Spirit hath said this much notice he makes a point of only preaching what he knows unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—aRepent
ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are
straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of
God bcometh upon the face of the earth. They are 83 years away from his first coming. If we are less than 83 years away from his Second Coming (which I believe we are) I would think our prophet would be preaching the same message. Repent; Prepare the way of the Lord; the Son of God cometh! I suppose you can find that in his messages, but not so directly as to have that be what he is known for. I would say he's know for "Hear Him"; Gather Israel, and all the changes to programs and name recognition. But "repent for the Son of God cometh" should be tops!
10 And behold, he shall be aborn of Mary, at bJerusalem which is the cland of our forefathers, she being a dvirgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and econceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and aafflictions and btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. This “word” was given to Isaiah before Christ’s birth by Christ Himself.
12 And he will take upon him adeath, that he may bloose
the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him
their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according
to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to csuccor his people according to their infirmities. Know this about your Savior and Redeemer. His Atonement filled Him with Mercy, and a desire to succor you in your infirmities. He came to redeem you, not condemn you. I also believe that the mercy he is filled with is for the perpetrator of sin who has been influenced by the sins of others, so he knows how to justly judge us in our sins.
13 Now the Spirit aknoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the bflesh that he might ctake upon
him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions
according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the
testimony which is in me.
14 Now I say unto you that ye must arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. We must seek to be born again with great desire and diligence. The remission of sins that comes when Born Again is when we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.
15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth abeset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism. Every day, as we repent, we need to be willing to “show” God we are willing to change. Put your sins on the alter every day. You will feel the sacrifice, but that’s ok. This is how you know you are showing Him. If you aren’t feeling any sacrifice or struggle, then you probably aren’t really repenting... There is a bit of fear in really committing to "lay aside every sin"...especially the ones "which easily doth best you". But we have to show God; witness to him that we are willing. Today, I want to commit to show God that I desire the Baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost; a remission of my sins; to KNOW God - by setting aside my fear of not being able to control my hunger; that I hunger for this gift even more than food; that I will stay spiritually hungry until He fills my soul with His redeeming love. This is a bit scary to me because I know how weak I am and how easily I give in to temptation. But I must witness to God that I truly want this...more than anything. I thought these people were already members?
16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will aremember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me. This is to be Born Again!
17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy. Alma could not know this but the Spirit could reveal it to him.
18 For as I said unto you from the beginning, that I had much desire that ye were not in the state of adilemma like your brethren, He’s not afraid to compare... even so I have found that my desires have been gratified.
19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his apaths straight. How do we make His paths straight? Aren’t they already straight? What does this mean? One thought...if the Kingdom of God is within you, but He does not abide in you, then the paths within you are not straight yet. You must "make" his paths straight in your heart, in your body where the Kingdom of God is.
20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot awalk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.
21 And he doth not dwell in aunholy temples; our bodies are his temple; our temples are his temple. neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; This is why we must be Born Again and receive a remission of sins and be made clean therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is bfilthy shall remain in his filthiness.
22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.
23 And now I would that ye should be ahumble, and be bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
24 And see that ye have afaith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
Alma's Counsel:
- awaken to a sense of your duty to God
- walk blameless before him
- walk after the holy order of God
- be humble
- be submissive and gentle
- be easy to be entreated
- be full of patience and long-suffering
- be temperate in all things
- be diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times
- ask for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal
- always return thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive
- Have faith, hope and charity
- always abound in good works
lots to ponder here...
25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with aAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments bspotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.
26 And
now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according
to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly
rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given
unto my word. How can he know they have heeded it when he's just now speaking to him? Is this a compilation of his teachings after spending some time with them?
27 And now, may the apeace
of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your
flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your
children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth
and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen. This sounds like an Apostolic blessing!
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