Alma 34

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 green 5/21 8/22 Brown 9/23)

Chapter 34

Amulek testifies that the word is in Christ unto salvation—Unless an atonement is made, all mankind must perish—The whole law of Moses points toward the sacrifice of the Son of God—The eternal plan of redemption is based on faith and repentance—Pray for temporal and spiritual blessings—This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God—Work out your salvation with fear before God. About 74 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass that after Alma had spoken these words unto them he sat down upon the ground, no chairs? I think they are outside? and ^aAmulek arose and began to teach them, saying:
  2 My brethren, I think that it is impossible that ye should be ignorant of the things which have been spoken concerning the coming of Christ, who is taught by us to be the Son of God; yea, I know that ^athese things were taught unto you bountifully before your dissension from among us. We are reminded here, that the audience are former "members". And they claim to not know if there is a Christ, I suppose, because the prevailing “leaders” told them so; changed the doctrine; and they went along, but after they were cast out, then began to doubt what they had been taught. Well, we don’t really know if they began to doubt it...
  3 And as ye have desired of my beloved brother that he should make known unto you ^awhat ye should do, because of your afflictions; and he hath spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your minds; This can be studied. How does one prepare someone's mind to receive the word of God? Part of it seems to be going back to commonly believed books of scripture...yea, and he hath exhorted you unto faith and to patience—Truly these two words go hand in hand
  4 Yea, even that ye would have so much faith Faith can be quantified. It can be "small as a mustard seed"; it can be "so much" or "little". Our prophet asked the Lord 5 years ago "How do we 'increase' faith in our members?" Faith must be part of preparing the mind to believe as even to ^aplant the word in your hearts, that ye may try the experiment of its goodness. Just try...
  5 And we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be ^ano Christ. This should probably be our 'great question' as well. Think of "word" as "truth". Where is the truth? In the Son of God or someone else? If we were united in wanting to know truth then we could be one. It would not be about "who" is right...but "what" is right. We would not be afraid to "reason" with one another and talk about it and search the scriptures and present our "evidence" to one another. 
  6 And ye also beheld that my brother has proved unto you, in many instances, that the ^aword is in Christ unto salvation. unto salvation. It's not enough to just 'know' this. Of what good would the knowledge be if it didn't lead to something? He also showed the scriptures were clear about the coming of Christ, who is the Son of God.
  7 My brother has called upon the words of ^aZenos, "dead" prophet (some say their words are not as important as the living prophet...but living prophets testify of the truth spoken by past prophets) that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also upon the words of ^bZenock; and also he has appealed unto ^cMoses, to prove that these things are true. This is evidence God has revealed his words unto prophets and that all those words will come to pass.
  8 And now, behold, I will ^atestify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the ^btransgressions of his people, and that he shall ^catone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it. I am leaning towards the idea that when Christ took upon him our transgressions, he became the "victim" of all we have done or not done, giving him the sole right to forgive or demand justice. We are taught if we are not forgiven, that we must pay the demands of justice. Maybe he didn't have to "suffer" the demands of justice at all...just the pain of all our sins inflicted upon himself. Does this diminish His atonement at all if this is true? I don't think so...
  9 For it is expedient that an ^aatonement should be made; for according to the great ^bplan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are ^cfallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made. Remember these people have come to believe that there is only God the Father and no Son of God and no need for Atonement. And that only THEY are chosen. 
 10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last ^asacrifice; yea, not a ^bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an ^cinfinite and ^deternal ^esacrifice. Sounds like he is calling Christ by the name "infinite and eternal"
 11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is ^ajust, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.
 12 But the law requireth the ^alife of him who hath ^bmurdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.
 13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a ^astop to the shedding of ^bblood; then shall the ^claw of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.
 14 And behold, this is the whole ^ameaning of the ^blaw, every whit ^cpointing to that great and last ^dsacrifice; and that great and last ^esacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, ^finfinite and eternal.
 15 And thus he shall bring ^asalvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. Our faith in Christ leads us to repentance. If it doesn't, then of what use is faith in Christ at all?  Or repentance...
 16 And thus ^amercy can satisfy the demands of ^bjustice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of ^cjustice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal ^dplan of ^eredemption. So....when our prophet asks God how to help the members increase in faith, what they are really asking is "how do we lead them to repentance"!!! This thing I had never supposed. The answer was to repent about how we keep the Sabbath Day holy. I think we are so focused on “performances” that we didn’t let the teachings of those 3 years change our hearts about the Sabbath Day. Or Christ I don’t think many changed what they do on that day. Hence...our “awful situation” today. Faith in Christ unto repentance, or it is not real faith at all...
 17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your ^afaith unto repentance, that ye begin to ^bcall upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
 18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is ^amighty to save.
 19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in ^aprayer unto him.
 20 Cry unto him when ye are in your ^afields, yea, over all your flocks.
 21 ^aCry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
 22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your ^aenemies.
 23 Yea, ^acry unto him against the ^bdevil, who is an enemy to all ^crighteousness.
 24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
 25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
 26 But this is not all; ye must ^apour out your souls in your ^bclosets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
 27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your ^ahearts be ^bfull, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your ^cwelfare, and also for the welfare of ^dthose who are around you.
 28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye ^aturn away the ^bneedy, and the ^cnaked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and ^dimpart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your ^eprayer is ^fvain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as ^ghypocrites who do deny the faith. you "deny the faith" that has led you to repentance. But if that repentance has not led you to see others as yourself, you have not really repented, nor do you have sufficient faith that if you "impart" to others that Christ will support you in your own needs and hear your prayers. This is all very clear to read and much harder to have faith to do. It’s so easy to justify our own “wants” as needs and not feel a desire to impart to others. If we do not get answers to our prayers we need to look inside and see if we are helping the needy. I have much concern about the use of our tithes and offerings; that they are not helping the needy as they should. Also not sure why it is ok for our tithes to pay salaries to our leaders and fund our universities...  
 29 Therefore, if ye do not remember to be ^acharitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men. If you do not have charity you are nothing! I don't know if we can have true charity if we have not been born again and been given that heavenly gift.
 30 And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have ^areceived so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring ^bfruit unto repentance. Show you have faith.
 31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and ^aharden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the ^bday of your ^csalvation; salvation cometh by faith in Christ and faith in Christ is demonstrated by repentance and repentance leadeth to salvation and therefore, if ye will repent and ^dharden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. Immediately...because repentance IS redemption and redemption is only through Christ, Jesus. A hard heart is the reason we stay in our rebellion against what we know is right. We are not willing to truly sacrifice our will to know God. 
 32 For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors. And our labor is to repent and serve God and have charity towards others.
 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many ^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not ^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the ^dnight of ^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed. I'm unclear as to how this works with temple work for the dead and all the things we didn't know in this life due to the traditions of men and our blindness...
 34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful ^acrisis, footnote is for the hell that awaits the wicked that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth ^bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. footnote for possess: when we yield to sin then we are servants to the devil and he has power over us (that we have given to him). I believe this refers to real spirits that do possess our bodies when we yield to them...at least the evil spirits that never were given bodies. I suppose if this works in the affirmative, that when we yield to God and become His servant that the Holy Ghost takes up residence in our bodies and even Jesus and the Father promise to "make their abode with us". Cool thought. I don’t know why it’s so easy for us to believe the Lord's Spirit can be “in” us and not evil spirits...
 35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become ^asubjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth ^bseal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. We must understand that when we use our agency to choose God, we will always retain that agency and will use it for righteousness. BUT...if we use our agency to choose Satan, then, at some point we lose our agency and become his subjects and he has all power over you. You can no longer NOT choose to be subject to him. You are his prisoner forever. Yikes! Intesresting that there is a "sealing" power to evil...?
 36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth here is the "righteous possession" concept not in ^aunholy temples, but in the ^bhearts of the ^crighteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; Unlike the devils kingdom, in God's kingdom, you are his forever, not by subjection but by choice and freedom and lack of temptation by the devil but their garments should be made white through the ^dblood of the Lamb.
  37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should ^awork out your salvation repentance is work. increasing in faith is work. prayer is work. constant faith in Christ is work. until the natural man is completely rooted out of our flesh. with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ; and no more deny the possibility of the coming of Christ to you in the flesh, in this life.
 38 That ye ^acontend no more against the Holy Ghost, how often do I fight against the Holy Ghost? murmur? justify? but that ye receive it, If 'receiving' the Holy Ghost is the opposite of 'contending against' the Holy Ghost, then the phrase that we hear when we are confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost - "receive the Holy Ghost" is more of a charge or a command to not contend against it but to listen and to follow it until you are able to keep His companionship always by remaining clean. Wow! wow! Hear that again. "receive the Holy Ghost" means, when you get communication from the Holy Ghost - receive it. Do not push it away, argue with it, dismiss it. Instead, listen and follow and take upon you the ^bname of Christ; does this refer to the bride/bridegroom covenant? You are committing to be His? to follow wherever He goes? to live in His presence? that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, this is what it will take “Dust” could be a reference to the “dust of the earth” which is more obedient than we are, but is also of what we were made. Someone suggested that the “dust” refers to our mortal bodies and that our bodies are obedient to whatever we tell it...good or bad. and ^cworship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in ^dthanksgiving daily, for the many ^emercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. gratitude is required for humility
 39 Yea, and I also ^aexhort you, my brethren, that ye be ^bwatchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the ^ctemptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, warnings: be watchful to the point that you are always in prayer. Understand the power of temptation and the desire of the devil to have power OVER you. that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you ^dno good thing. How can anyone actually want to choose the devil? He doesn't give you anything good! You become his slave and prisoner! Why would you choose that over God?
 40 And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have ^apatience, and that ye bear with all manner of ^bafflictions; see their divine purpose that ye do not ^crevile against those who do cast you out because of your ^dexceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;
 41 But that ye have ^apatience, and bear with those ^bafflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions. I guess people exchange immediate gratification for eternal rest and glory. I choose to bear with patience mine afflictions and trust in God until I receive eternal rest! Isaiah teaches "descent" before "ascent". Be patient with the descent. It will test your faith and resolve. Our ability to obey comes through the sacrifices that the Lord asks of us.