Chapter 13
Men are called as high priests because of their exceeding faith and good works—They are to teach the commandments—Through righteousness they are sanctified and enter into the rest of the Lord—Melchizedek was one of these—Angels are declaring glad tidings throughout the land—They will declare the actual coming of Christ. About 82 B.C.
1 And
again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when
the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that
ye should remember that the Lord God aordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.
2 And those priests were ordained after the aorder of his Son, in a bmanner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. Is there a "manner": way of looking forward for redemption?
3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being acalled and bprepared from the cfoundation of the world according to the dforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to echoose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great ffaith, are gcalled with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such. What is the "preparatory redemption"? This all sounds like it was in the pre-existence they chose good over evil and exercised faith and were called.
4 And thus they have been acalled
to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would
reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and bblindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great cprivilege as their brethren. While he seems to be teaching about foreordination of these ordained priests, he makes it clear we can all have the same privilege if we exercise exceeding great faith and do not reject the Spirit of God. We must have soft hearts and not be blind in our minds.
5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the asame
standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared
from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their
hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who
was prepared—Perhaps the faith they exercised was in the Atonement Jesus Christ would perform so much later.
6 And
thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high
priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the
children of men, that they also might enter into his arest— So these ordained priests first "entered into his rest" themselves and then went to preach that others may do the same. D&C 84:24 says that his rest is the fulness of His glory. How does one experience a "fulness of His glory"?
7 This
high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from
the foundation of the world; or in other words, being awithout beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from beternity to all eternity, according to his cforeknowledge of all things—
8 Now they were aordained
after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a
holy ordinance, what was this ordinance? and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy
order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—
9 Thus they become ahigh priests
forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father,
who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of bgrace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen. Pretty sure that was just a sermon that we don't even begin to understand. Yet, Mormon saw fit to include it in the record for us to read. This is a "mystery" he wants us to understand.
10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this ahigh priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding bfaith and crepentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish; Notice, REPENTANCE was required.
11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were asanctified, and their bgarments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb. I think this refers to being Born Again and receiving a remission of sins through the Baptism by Fire and the Holy Ghost.
12 Now they, after being asanctified by the bHoly Ghost, having their garments made white, being cpure and spotless before God, could not look upon dsin save it were with eabhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God. Exceedingly great many! This is encouraging. What are we missing that 'exceedingly great many' of us are not experiencing/becoming this?
13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth afruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest. What is "fruit meet for repentance"? Maybe it means that you don't just "say" you're sorry but you actually try to change what you are repenting of and how you think and feel about it. Fruit is something that comes from a plant or tree after the seed has been planted, nourished, and pruned which takes a bit of time. Planting the seed is not enough.
14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of aMelchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever. Humility is required
15 And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid atithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed. One tenth tithing goes way back... Noticing he paid tithe of "all he possessed", not just his "increase"...
16 Now these aordinances were given after this bmanner, that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a ctype
of his order, or it being his order, and this that they might look
forward to him for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into
the rest of the Lord. We must enter into the rest of the Lord and to do that we must receive a remission of our sins and to do that we must repent in a way that we have evidence or fruit showing our repentance and we must do that until we receive a remission of our sins by/through the Holy Ghost. (Not water baptism, which is only symbolic of a future day of cleansing) Priesthood is an "order". Ponder that.
17 Now
this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had
waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray;
they were full of all manner of wickedness; Another story of hope. They had ALL gone astray and FULL of ALL manner of wickedness, yet...
18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the aholy order
of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did
repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days;
therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of
Salem; and he did reign under his father. I don't think he just preached "you need to repent". I think he preached the full doctrine of repentance and how to really do it in a way that leads to a full remission of sins. He could preach this with power because he himself exercised mighty faith, received it himself, and preached according to the power/priesthood of God. Powerful leaders can have much influence on people. We are in a famine of this kind of powerful preaching that truly moves people to change!
19 Now, there were amany before him, and also there were many afterwards, but bnone were greater; therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention.
20 Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold, the ascriptures are before you; if ye will bwrest them it shall be to your own destruction. The fact that we are full of the "precepts of men" is proof that we have "wrested" the scriptures and it is causing our own destruction.
21 And
now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he
stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, in God's power saying: aNow is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh;
22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the amouth
of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea, doth declare it, that
they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these
glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered
abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us.
23 And they are made known unto us in aplain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being bwanderers
in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have
these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.
24 For behold, aangels
are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for
the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive
his word at the time of his coming in his glory. We only have record of what one angels said to one man here, but apparently Alma was told by the Angel that others were receiving the same words! The Lord was preparing the hearts of the people to "receive his word at the time of his comin in his glory" - what "time" is this? Was it his birth? These people would not receive him at his birth. Was it after his resurrection? None of these people would still be alive when he visited the Americas. Was it at his Second Coming? Again, none of these would be alive for that. So is the "time of His coming" referring to the Second Comforter or The Baptism by Fire? That is the only "time" that would make sense...
25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we aknow not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice. Sounds like he's referring to the time of His birth which was about 82 years away.
26 And it shall be made known unto ajust
and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of his coming, that
the words of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they
have spoken concerning him, which was according to the spirit of
prophecy which was in them.
27 And now, my brethren, I awish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great banxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not cprocrastinate the day of your repentance; very sincere words. Anxiety unto PAIN! Surely they felt his love!
28 But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and awatch and pray continually, that ye may not be btempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be cled by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, dmeek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;
29 aHaving faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the blove of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his crest. Does "and thus" mean that the preceding things are prerequisite to being led by the Holy Spirit?
Humble yourself
Call on his holy name
Watch continually
Pray continually to not be tempted above that which you can bear
Then you will know that you ARE led by the Holy Spirit when you are becoming
Humble
Meek
Submissive
Patient
Full of love
Full of all long-suffering
Have faith on the Lord (How is that different from faith IN the Lord?)
Have hope that you'll receive eternal life
Have the love of God always in your heart
THEN
You'll be lifted up at the last day (as opposed to being "cast down")
and enter into his rest (which is the fullness of His glory)
30 And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that ye may not bring down his wrath upon you, that ye may not be abound down by the chains of bhell, that ye may not suffer the second cdeath. Without repentance, you are doomed to hell
31 And Alma spake many more words unto the people, which are not written in athis book. They were written, but not in this abridged record.
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