Alma 12

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 6/20 Green 4/21 Orange 7/22  Brown 7/2023)

Chapter 12

Alma speaks to Zeezrom—The mysteries of God can be given only to the faithful—Men are judged by their thoughts, beliefs, words, and works—The wicked will suffer a spiritual death—This mortal life is a probationary state—The plan of redemption brings to pass the Resurrection and, through faith, a remission of sins—The repentant have a claim on mercy through the Only Begotten Son. About 82 B.C.

 1 Now Alma, seeing that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, never doubt that the word of God spoken with the Spirit of God is stronger than that of Satan for he beheld that Amulek had caught him in his ^alying and deceiving which is what Zeezrom was trying to do to Alma and Amulek...to destroy him, and seeing that he began to tremble under a ^bconsciousness of his guilt, must have been able to break through the “past feeling” stuff he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him,  and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done.  In the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses! We are given "more" when we soften and receive what we are first given. If Zeezrom hadn't reacted this way, would Alma have opened his mouth to speak more?
  2 Now the words that Alma spake unto Zeezrom were heard by the people round about; for the multitude was great, and he spake on this wise: It may have been for all those other people listening that this all went down in front of them...
  3 Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy ^athoughts, and thou seest that thy ^bthoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit; You cannot lie to God!
  4 And thou seest that we know that thy plan was a very ^asubtle plan, as to the subtlety of the devil, for to lie and to deceive this people that thou mightest set them against us, to ^brevile us and to cast us out—Get others to do your dirty work
  5 Now this was a plan of thine ^aadversary, the devil is the adversary of all mankind. He is not your friend, even if you are on his side and do his will. and he hath exercised his power in thee. Just like God is exercising His power in Alma and Amulek, Satan can exercise what power he is allowed on people as well. Now I would that ye should remember that what I say unto thee I say unto all. Can Satan exercise power any other way? Remember whenever we or others sin it is because SATAN is exercising power in us. He is the one we are at war with!
  6 And behold I say unto you all that this was a ^asnare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his ^bchains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity. I feel this is what is happening now. This whole COVID thing is a snare of the adversary to catch us and bring us in to subjection to encircle us in his chains and chain us down to everlasting destruction. When we are captive he has power over us. We have given him that power by our submission to his lies and deceptions. Can you see the irony here? Zeezrom was believing that he could lay a snare to catch Alma and Amulek in their words to bring them into subjection and chain them in prison and destroy the church when in reality Satan was doing the exact same thing to him and those who followed his words! The very tool Satan's telling him to use on others...Satan is using on him! Talk about deception!
  7 Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; Never doubt that God can convince even the most hardened and wicked and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they ^aknew the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy. Ok, this is a hard statement...but how is it that our living prophets do not have the spirit of prophecy about Covid and the UN and Vaccines and the CDC and WHO and government leaders? Why has power not been given to them to know the thoughts and intents of their hearts? And if they do know, why would God have them deceive the people by telling them to trust these evil people? Does God work like that? The only think I can say about this paradox (which the gospel is certainly full of) is that before Covid the prophet emphasized the importance of learning to "Hear Him" (God) and to pay the price for priesthood power. Ultimately I think we get from the prophets what God allows according to the wants of the people. It's really our collective fault and not the prophets...We do have scriptural and historical evidence that prophets have made mistakes or not "seen" things before. Some believe that Isaiah prophesied our day when the prophets would be blind (Isaiah 56:10) and even "make a covenant with death" (Isaiah 28:18) and that "one mighty and strong" would be sent to "set the church in order" (D&C 85:7). Isaiah said his words would become plain when they were fulfilled. They seem pretty plain to me... Now, know this. I sustain our prophets and apostles in their callings and I believe this is the Church of Jesus Christ. But I can see no other interpretation of Isaiah's words and I do believe we are in a bit of trouble as a church. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins Christ teaches us that only those that have taken The Holy Spirit for their guide (not the prophet) will abide the day. The words of Christ as delivered to you through the Holy Spirit are the only way forward. Trust no man at face value. Confirm all things through Christ. We are in enemy territory. 
  8 And Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God. This is quite a turn to do this publicly with everyone watching...And he said unto Alma: What does this mean which Amulek hath spoken concerning the resurrection of the dead, that all shall rise from the dead, both the ^ajust and the unjust, and are brought to stand before God to be ^bjudged according to their works? His guilt was taking him to his own judgment day...yikes!
  9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to ^aknow the ^bmysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart ^conly according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. This seems very clear. If God reveals a mystery to you, you can’t just publish it on social media or on a blog for anyone to read. God only shares with his children according to their heed and diligence to that which they’ve been given. What is a “mystery”? I would think it is anything that isn’t revealed in the scriptures or by the prophets. Not sure though... It is encouraging to hear him teach that "many" are given to know the mysteries of God. That means I can know them too. Notice that we can learn mysteries from others only if we give heed and diligence to what "portion" He allows us to be given. Then we can receive more. I can't help but believe the prophets are blind now because we as a people have not given heed and diligence to what we've received. The condemnation in D&C 84:57 may still be upon us. 
 10 And therefore, he that will ^aharden his heart, the same receiveth the ^blesser portion of the word; and he that will ^cnot harden his heart, to him is ^dgiven the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. So one key to receiving the mysteries is to be true to what you have received. I think we’ve been taught that we won’t get more scripture until we’ve been faithful to the Book of Mormon. On a personal level, it’s probably more about following the Holy Ghost’s promptings more and more consistently. Now I believe it also has to do with believing the Doctrine of Christ laid out so clearly in the Book of Mormon that we are to be Born Again. I don't think we believe that correctly as a church/people and it is absolutely necessary for our salvation that we are not getting "more" because our minds are darkened and in unbelief about this! How do we harden our hearts? We don't let truth "get in"; it doesn't penetrate and change us. We don't "feel" anything about it...
 11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser ^aportion of the word until they ^bknow nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the ^cchains of ^dhell. Interesting speech about mysteries. Might be saying...you don't know these things because you rebelled and had a hard heart. Notice how we move from a "lesser portion" to "nothing" to captivity by the devil to destruction. There is no neutral ground. You cannot just stay where you are. The tractor beams are pulling you to heaven or hell. The hardeness or softness of your heart determines which way you are being pulled. But... the hope found in this story of Zeezrom is that even though he had the hardest of hearts, God still found a way through to his heart and he could still change the trajectory of his future.
 12 And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning ^adeath, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be ^bjudged according to our works. Guilt will do that to you...make you worried about judgment day...
 13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.
 14 For our ^awords will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the ^bmountains to fall upon us to ^chide us from his presence.
 15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting ^ashame that all his ^bjudgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance. Even you... In "that day" we will see through all the mists of darkness and trials and tribulations and know that through it all God was being merciful and extending His power to save if only they would believe in Christ and repent.
 16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second ^adeath, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal ^bdeath, shall also ^cdie a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
 17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a ^alake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.
 18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been ^ano redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot ^bdie, I think this means they cannot die because they’ve been resurrected seeing there is no more corruption.
 19 Now it came to pass that when Alma had made an end of speaking these words, the people began to be more astonished; I think it's natural for all mankind to be curious about the future and life after death... I can't wait for powerful convincing preaching like this!
 20 But there was one Antionah, who was a chief ruler among them, came forth and said unto him: What is this that thou hast said, that man should rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal to an ^aimmortal state, that the soul can never die?
 21 What does the scripture mean, So...they do know about the scriptures... which saith that God placed ^acherubim and a flaming sword on the east of the garden of ^bEden, lest our first parents should enter and partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and live forever? And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever. So is he thinking they could not live forever even after death?
 22 Now Alma said unto him: This is the thing which I was about to explain.  Really? You knew that?  Now we see that Adam did ^afall by the partaking of the forbidden ^bfruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a ^clost and fallen people.
 23 And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have ^apartaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: ^bIf thou eat thou shalt surely die.
 24 And we see that ^adeath comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto ^bman in which he might repent; therefore this life became a ^cprobationary state; a time to ^dprepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. THIS IS ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. You must must must keep this perspective about your life. We are here to repent as we strive to keep our covenants and promises to God. We are here to learn and grow and put off the natural man. We are here to get a body. We are here to choose God. We are here to show our love to God by loving others and serving them. Nothing about this life is about this life. Everything here is going to go away. We are here to secure a happy eternal life. It won’t matter if our life was crappy here if we have a happy eternity; and it won’t matter if our life was happy here, if we have a crappy eternity. (Not meme worthy... or is it? )

 25 Now, if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no ^aresurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of ^bredemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken.
 26 And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have gone forth and partaken of the ^atree of life they would have been forever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the ^bplan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect. What if Satan's plan was for them to partake of the fruit and then get them to partake of the tree of life. Wouldn't he want to make the word of God void? He must not have taken in to account God's foreknowledge and ability to guard the way to the tree of life. God's word/plan cannot be frustrated by Satan.
 27 But behold, it was not so; but it was ^aappointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to ^bjudgment, even that same judgment of which we have spoken, which is the end. This whole lecture seems to put down the concept of Multiple Mortal Probations which some believe is a reality.
 28 And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them; God wants us to know what this life is about
 29 Therefore he sent ^aangels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory.
 30 And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God ^aconversed with men, and made known unto them the ^bplan of redemption, which had been prepared from the ^cfoundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their ^dholy works. As you try to increase your faith, be sure to always connect repentance to the process. What are "holy" works? 
 31 Wherefore, he gave ^acommandments unto men, they having first transgressed the ^bfirst commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as gods, ^cknowing good from evil, I guess Satan can tell a truth if it serves his purposes...notice it's a little "g" gods placing themselves in a state to ^dact, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—
 32 Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made ^aknown unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second ^bdeath, which was an everlasting ^cdeath as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of ^djustice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme ^egoodness of God. There really is Divine Mercy and Divine Justice. The "Jesus Saves No Matter What" crowd are deceived. You can place yourself in a position where Jesus plan of redemption has no power to save you. 
 33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the ^aplan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will ^brepent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son; There are only a few written records of God conversing with man directly, but his verse seems to be saying that God was the one speaking. Even God the Father does things "in the name of his Son". 
 34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on ^amercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a ^bremission of his sins; and these shall enter into my ^crest. D&C 84:24 - "the fullness of His glory" which in many verses seems to be another way of saying his rest is to be in his presence. Not just with Jesus, but with the Father. This is what it means to "seek this Jesus". Repent and harden not your heart against this doctrine. Claim mercy unto a remission of your sins which is when you truly/finally "receive the Holy Ghost" and continue on until you "enter into His rest" (Second Comforter).
 35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do ^ainiquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.
 36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity ^aprovoketh him that he sendeth down his ^bwrath upon you as in the ^cfirst provocation, see this talk (https://rsc.byu.edu/sperry-symposium-classics-old-testament/provocation-wilderness-rejection-grace) yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting ^ddestruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.
 37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we ^aprovoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the ^brest of God, which is prepared according to his word. What are “these second commandments”? Vs. 32 makes it sound like it was the commandment to not do evil.