Alma 32

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 green 5/21 8/22 Brown 8/23)

Chapter 32

Alma teaches the poor whose afflictions had humbled them—Faith is a hope in that which is not seen which is true—Alma testifies that angels minister to men, women, and children—Alma compares the word unto a seed—It must be planted and nourished—Then it grows into a tree from which the fruit of eternal life is picked. About 74 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets.
  2 And it came to pass that after much labor among them, they began to have success among the ^apoor class of people; for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel— This week in Come Follow Me it is section 46 which commands us to never cast anyone out of our meetings! (I’ve heard of some wards kicking people out for not wearing a mask...)
  3 Therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as ^adross; therefore they were ^bpoor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart. Blessed are the poor in spirit...is this the same thing as poor in heart? The test for the “wealthy” is that they were to give the poor better clothes if they felt they were too filthy to enter the building instead of casting them out. Such blatant pride!
  4 Now, as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill ^aOnidah, there came a great ^bmultitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking, of whom were ^cpoor in heart, because of their poverty as to the things of the world. Almost sounds like they were discouraged and depressed. We may all have the opportunity to become “poor in heart” because poverty is around the corner. Food, gas, and home prices are soaring. Food shortages are looming. Remember that “poor in heart” is not the same as “pure in heart”, but one may lead to the other...
  5 And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, ^awhat shall these my brethren do, for they are ^bdespised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; The leaders were the worst offenders; paradoxically the ones who should have had the most love and mercy for they have ^ccast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have ^dno place to worship our God; and behold, ^ewhat shall we do? They were a little put out that they couldn't worship in the very buildings they had built! Did they also believe this “I’m chosen” philosophy? 
  6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their ^aafflictions had truly ^bhumbled them, and that they were in a ^cpreparation to hear the word. I think this has happened to a lot of people because of COVID, but probably not enough, for we didn't get a miracle after our fast in April...The Gadiantons control the mainstream media, so “the word” isn’t getting to the masses. Most have not been humbled by this affliction and have gotten even more stiffnecked against truth. Another round of trials is being put upon us this fall. Where will be line up this time? Pushbacks are working. This is a "test" by them to see what we will do. 
  7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; Who was this first group? but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, So were the first group just curious investigators? and said unto them:
  8 I behold that ye are ^alowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye.
  9 Behold thy brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God.
 10 Behold I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye ^acannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?
 11 And moreover, I would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only ^aonce in a week?
 12 I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn ^awisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are despised of your brethren because of your exceeding ^bpoverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble. Humility seems to justify the means...It is “necessary” that we learn wisdom and are humble. 
 13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh ^arepentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and ^bendureth to the end the same shall be saved.
 14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be ^ahumble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word? I always want to be in this "group" of those who choose to humble themselves.
 15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty. "Truly" humble; "Truly" repent; "Truly" endure to the end in the Born Again state. 
 16 Therefore, blessed are they who ^ahumble themselves without being ^bcompelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without ^cstubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe. How is this "more blessedness" experienced? For both receive salvation...Notice that you can come to this state merely by believing the word of God; without being compelled to humility through trial. It is only our "stubbornness of heart" that keeps us from these blessings.
 17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a ^asign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.
 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to ^abelieve, for he knoweth it.
 19 And now, how much ^amore ^bcursed is he that ^cknoweth the ^dwill of God and doeth it not, than he that only believeth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth into ^etransgression? This is one reason, I believe that God teaches line upon line. As much as we wish we knew more, it is to our condemnation if we “know” and then still don’t do. Perhaps this is one reason God tries our faith before we receive knowledge, so that we know we will “do” after we “know”. 
 20 Now of this thing ye must judge. Behold, I say unto you, that it is on the one hand even as it is on the other; and it shall be unto every man according to his work.
 21 And now as I said concerning faith—^afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true. I believe that God honors true faith because faith is THAT important!
 22 And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is ^amerciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.
 23 And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, ^anot only men but women also. Now this is not all; little ^bchildren do have words given unto them many times, which ^cconfound the wise and the learned. This is a beautiful example of equality before God. I wish we had more written accounts of angels imparting God’s word to women and children. It makes it sound like this is more common that we think. 
 24 And now, my beloved brethren, as ye have desired to know of me what ye shall do because ye are afflicted and cast out—now I do not desire that ye should suppose that I mean to judge you only according to that which is true—
 25 For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to humble yourselves; for I verily believe that there are some among you who ^awould humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might. I want to be in this group...
 26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Notice the words that imply “action”. Words like awake; arouse your faculties; experiment; exercise; work; give place...faith is a verb not a noun. It moves you to some kind of mental and physical action.
 28 Now, we will compare the word unto a ^aseed. Now, if ye give place, that a ^bseed may be planted in your ^cheart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your ^dunbelief, I think we hear truth often, but cast it out. by our unbelief. I think we have more unbelief than we admit  that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, Justifying and procrastination are actions of “resisting” the Spirit of the Lord behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to ^eenlighten my ^funderstanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. Look for enlightenment; understanding; deliciousness to discern truth
 29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.
 30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
 31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own ^alikeness. “By their fruits ye shall know them”. 
 32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. What if a seed is good, but doesn’t grow because we don’t water and nourish it. It won’t grow, but it was a good seed. So saying if a seed doesn’t grow it isn’t good isn’t true on the face of it. Only if a good seed is planted and nourished can we know it’s a good seed because it’s growing. This qualification is set down in verse 28...
 33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, planted the seed and didn't cast it out by your unbelief and did not resist the spirit of the Lord and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.
 34 And now, behold, is your ^aknowledge ^bperfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your ^cfaith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your ^dmind doth begin to expand.
 35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is ^alight; and whatsoever is light, is ^bgood, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; Light is discernible. You can tell if something is good; if your mind is expanding; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? “Tasting this light” seems to echo the fruit of the tree in Lehi’s vision. If so, tasting the light would equal tasting the fruit, which is experiencing the love of God.
 36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.
 37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. This is so important for new converts. They have no roots at first and no real fruit. They must nourish and take great care. We are all converts!
 38 But if ye ^aneglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.
 39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ^aground is ^bbarren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof. you must do the work of conversion. Like I was pointing out above...
 40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the ^atree of life. So this is the real fruit we're after. How do you know if you've plucked the fruit of the tree of life? There is something important to “looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit” that is important. Seeing with “an eye of faith” I think has to do with spending regular time visualizing and “seeing” a future day. 
 41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with ^apatience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree ^bspringing up unto everlasting life. Being diligent and patient is key and the real challenge to all spiritual practices. Regular, hand over hand pressing forward on the iron rod and not occasional bursts of action. Satan is hard at work with distraction and busyness to interrupt our diligence.
 42 And because of your ^adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by You have to prove yourself over time through your diligence and faith and patience ye shall pluck the ^bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst. Here we are all these years later back to Lehi's dream..  THIS is being Born Again! I have heard it said that the beginning of the path in Lehi's dream is the Born Again experience and the Tree at the end is when we are fulling sanctified and our spirit and body are united in Christ. Notice it takes GREAT diligence; faith; patience
 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall ^areap the ^brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth ^cfruit unto you. This may be a life-long pursuit. Never give up. This is the tragedy of not being taught about seeking to be Born Again. We have changed this teaching for one that says being Born Again is an imperceptible thing that happens over a lifetime from just being active in the church and checking off the list but we don’t have to have an “eye of faith” about it or be diligent in anything but the list. It’s not something we have to seek or pray for. It’s not really a “mighty change” but a gradual one. I don’t think that is correct.  This video teaches about covenant being transformational, not transactional. Worth the listen.