Alma 13
Alma 8:11-13 - The First reaction of the City
of Ammonihah
11 Nevertheless, they hardened their hearts, saying unto him:
Behold, we know that thou art Alma; and we know that thou art high priest over
the church which thou hast established in many parts of the land, according to
your tradition; and we are not of thy church, and we do not believe in such
foolish traditions.
12 And now we know that because we are not of thy church we know
that thou hast no power over us; and thou hast delivered up the judgment-seat
unto Nephihah; therefore thou art
not the chief judge over us.
13 Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words,
and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused
that he should be cast out of their city, he departed thence and
took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.
Duty of a High Priest and the symbolism of his
calling
1 And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward
to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children;
(See Alma 12:31-32)
31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first
transgressed the first commandments as to things which were
temporal, and becoming as gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in
a state to act, 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 known unto them the plan of redemption, that
they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness;
for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to
the supreme goodness of God.
and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which
was after the order
of his Son to
teach these things (see vs. 6,18) unto the
people.
2 And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know
in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.
3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding
faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having
chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith,
are called with a holy calling, yea, with that
holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory
redemption for such.
What makes it a preparatory
redemption?
4 And thus they have been called 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 blindness of their minds, while, if it had not
been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.
(See D&C 121:34-36) Many are Called
34
Behold, there are many called, but few
are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
35
Because their hearts are set so much
upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do
not learn this one lesson—
36
That the rights of the priesthood are
inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven
cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
What are the principles of righteousness?
5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same 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—
5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same 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—
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 rest—
(See Alma 12:34-35) What
does it mean to Enter into his rest?
34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he
shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter
into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath
that he shall not enter into my rest.
7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son (D&C 107:1-4), which
order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years,
being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—
What can be done with this
Priesthood?
JST, Gen 14:30-32
30 For God having sworn unto Enoch
and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after
this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to
divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;
31 To put at defiance the armies
of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence
of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command,
subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which
was from before the foundation of the world.
32 And men having this faith,
coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.
8 Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a
holy calling, and ordained with a holy 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 high
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 grace, equity, and truth. And thus it
is. Amen.
Why you need a High Priest
10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who
were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their
exceeding faith and repentance,
and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work
righteousness rather than to perish;
11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of
the Lamb.
How as men can we become
Sanctified so our garments can be washed clean?
D&C 84:33 (aka Oath
and covenant)
33 For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these
two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are
sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
(Explain about Temple is Directed)
What does it mean to magnify ones calling in
the Priesthood?
Jacob 1:19
19 And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking
upon us the responsibility,
answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all
diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments;
otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found
spotless at the last day.
. . . how does one magnify a calling? Simply by performing the
service that pertains to it. An elder magnifies the ordained calling of an
elder by learning what his duties as an elder are and then by doing them. . .
(Thomas S. Monson, The Call of Duty)
12 Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made
white, being pure and spotless before God, could not
look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many,
exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the
Lord their God.
13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves
before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.
Does the phrase, “Fruit meet for
repentance” seam familure to any of you?
JST Mathew 3:34-36 (Compare Mathew
3:8-6)
34 Why is it that ye receive
not the preaching of him whom God hath sent? If ye receive not this in your
hearts, ye receive not me; and if ye receive not me, ye receive not him of whom
I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no cloak.
35 Repent, therefore, and bring
forth fruits meet for repentance;
36 And think not to say within
yourselves, We are the children of Abraham, and we only have power to bring
seed unto our father Abraham; for I say unto you that God is able of these
stones to raise up children into Abraham.
What does the word, “meet” mean in this
phrase?
to come into the presence
of, to come together with, to come into contact or conjunction with, to enter
into conference, argument, or personal dealings with, to conform to especially
with exactitude and precision, to pay fully, to become acquainted with. (Merriam Webster dictionary)
How do we, “bring forth Fruit meet for
repentance”?
14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was also a high
priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the
high priesthood forever.
15 And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham
paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.
16 Now these ordinances were given after this manner, that thereby the people might
look forward on the Son of God, it being a type 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.
What Kind of Man was
Melchezidek?
JST, Gen 14:26-27
26 Now Melchizedek was a
man of faith, who wrought righteousness; and when a child he feared God, and
stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.
27 And thus, having been
approved of God, he was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant
which God made with Enoch,
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;
18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the
office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of
God,
See Office of High Priesthood See Alma 4:18
18 Now Alma did not grant unto him (Nephihah) the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto Nephihah.
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.
See Office of High Priesthood See Alma 4:18
18 Now Alma did not grant unto him (Nephihah) the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto Nephihah.
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.
19 Now, there were many before him, and also there were many
afterwards, but none were greater; therefore, of him they
have more particularly made mention.
This is the full affect a
High Priest can effect on a people
JST, Gen 14:34
34 And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and
sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the
earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world;
20 Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may
suffice. Behold, the scriptures are before
you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own
destruction.
The dictionary defines wrest as,
“To twist. … To distort; to turn from truth or twist from its natural
meaning … ; to pervert” (Noah Webster’s First Edition of an American Dictionary of the
English Language, 1828[1967])
Alma on his Soap Box
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,
saying: Now is the time to repent, for the day of
salvation draweth nigh;
22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the mouth 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 plain terms, that we may understand, that we
cannot err; and this because of our being wanderers 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, angels 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.
What is the job of these
angles?
preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word
at the time of his coming in his glory
Isn’t that our Job too?
D&C 13:1
1 Upon you my fellow
servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds
the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of
repentance . . .
27 And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea,
with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken
unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;
(See Alma 8:14) We know this is true,
14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being
weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the
wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass
while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:
31 And Alma spake many more words unto the people, which are not
written in this book.
Almas
parting words to the city of Gideon
Alma
7:22-27
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 humble, and be submissive 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 faith,
hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
25 And may the Lord bless you,
and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since
the world began, having your garments spotless 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.
27 And now, may the peace 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.