Alma 6-16

Quote of the Week:

"Pray for me to learn quickly what I need to learn."

--Neal A. Maxwell

"The Savior knows what it's like to die from cancer."

--Neal A. Maxwell

Further Reading:

JST Genesis 14:25-40
Jairo Mazzagardi, "Avoiding the Trap of Sin," Ensign, 11/10
Silvia Allred, "Steadfast and Immovable," Ensign, 11/10
Dennis A. Wright, "“None Were Greater”: A Restoration View of Melchizedek", Ensign, Feb. 1998, 30
LDS Attorneys:  Approaching the Modern Era

Handouts:

Alma 7:12--Succor His People

Jeffrey R. Holland, CES fireside for young adults, 3/2/97

 [Succor] is used often in the scriptures to describe Christ's care for and attention to us.  It means literally "to run to." What a magnificent way to describe the Savior's urgent effort in our behalf.  Even as he calls us to come to him and follow him, he is unfailingly running to help us.

Alma 7:22-24--Responsibilities of the Melchizedek Priesthood

Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, 11/81

The priesthood is very, very precious to the Lord.  He is very careful about how it is conferred, and by whom.  It is never done in secret.

I have told you how the authority is given to you.  The power you receive will depend on what you do with this sacred, unseen gift.

You authority comes through your ordination; your power comes through obedience and worthiness.

Alma 8:10--Mighty Prayer

Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Improving Our Prayers," BYU Speeches [2003], p. 160

May I ask you today to consider the effectiveness of your prayers? How close do you feel to your Heavenly Father? Do you feel that your prayers are answered? Do you feel that the time you spend in prayer enriches and uplifts your soul?  Is there room for improvement?

There are many reasons our prayers lack power.  Sometimes they become routine.  Our prayers become hollow when we say similar words in similar ways over and over so often that he words become more of a recitation than a communication.  This is what the Savior described as "vain repetitions" (Matt 6:7).  Such prayers, He said, will not be heard. . . .

Do your prayers at times sound and feel the same?  Have you ever said a prayer mechanically, the words pouring forth as though cut from a machine?  Do you sometimes bore yourself as you pray?

Prayers that do not demand much of your thought will hardly merit much attention from our Heavenly Father.  When you find yourself getting into a routine with your prayers, step back and think.  Meditate for a while on the things for which you really are grateful.

Alma 8:10-15--To Missionaries

James E. Faust, Ensign, 5/96
[To missionaries] . . .  you must know that Lucifer will oppose you, and be prepared for his opposition.  Do not be surprised.  He wants you to fail.  Discouragement is one of the devil's tools.  Have courage and go forward.  Recognize that the gospel has been preached with some pain and sorrow from the very beginning of time.  Do not expect that your experience will be other wise.

Alma 9:14-23--Great Blessings Bring Great Responsibilities

Sheri L. Dew, Ensign, 11/99
"Unto whom much is given much is required" (D&C 82:3), and at times the demands of discipleship are heavy.  But shouldn't we expect the journey towards eternal glory to stretch us?  We sometimes rationalize our preoccupation with this world and our casual attempts to grow spiritually by trying to console each other with the notion that living the gospel really shouldn't require all that much of us.  The Lord's standard of behavior will always be more demanding
than the world's, but then the Lord's rewards are infinitely more glorious--including true joy, peace, and salvation.

Alma 10--Amulek

Henry B. Eyring, Heroes from the Book of Mormon, p. 109-11
The life of Amulek teaches us not only that obedience brings the inspiration of God, but that with that inspiration will come the power to accept the testing and the trials it will take to sanctify us.  Amulek  could not have foreseen the testing and the sacrifice ahead of him. . . .  He says in his first sermon that the angel's promised blessing on his house and family had already been delivered.  He seemed to think the blessings were delivered and assured (Alma 10:11).

We don't know what Amulek thought those blessings had bee, but we do know what became of his house and his family.  He lost them all.  We know that after he taught with such power as the companion of  Alma in his own city, Ammonihah, his father and kindred repudiated him . . . .(Alma 15:16.)

Amulek may have lost even his wife and his children . . . .

If they had rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ they would have been killed in the prophesied destruction of Ammonihah.  An invading army took the life of every soul in a single day.  If Amulek's wife and children made and kept covenants of the gospel, they would have been among the martyrs Alma and Amulek were forced to see die in the flames (Alma 14:10-13)

Amulek was delivered by God from the powers of the adversary as a blessing for his obedience, but God would not compel his loved ones to obey.

Alma 11:43--A Bright Recollection of All Our Guilt

Russell M. Nelson, Conference Report, 10/85
Although your spirit had a veil of forgetfulness placed over it at the time of your birth into mortality, it retained its power to remember all that happens--precisely recording each event of life.  Indeed, scriptures warn "that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matt 12:36).  Prophets refer to our "bright recollection" (Alma 11:43) and "perfect remembrance" (Alma 5:18) at that day of decision.

George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, p. 60-61
There will be no scenes or incidents in our lives that will be forgotten by us in the world to com. . . . The human mind . . . when quickened by the power of God, will make men and women recall not only that which pertains to this life, but our memories will stretch back to the life we had before we came here, with the associations we had with our Father and God and with those bright spirits that stand around His throne and with the righteous and holy ones.

Alma 12:12-14--Judged According to our Words, Works and Thoughts

Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, 11/00
Judgment is not merely a review of actions taken in mortality, but is instead an assessment of who and what we have become as a result of our actions.
"From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done.  It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become."

Alma 12:14--Our Thoughts

Joseph F. Smith, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 238
In reality a man cannot forget anything.  He may have a lapse of memory; he may not be able to recall at the moment a thing that he knows or words that he has spoken; he may not have the power at his will to call up these events and words; but let God Almighty touch the mainspring of the memory and awaken recollection and you will find then that you have not even forgotten a single idle word that you have spoken!

Alma 13:3-5--Agency in the Premortal World

Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p. 50-51
During the ages in which we dwelt in the pre-mortal state, we not only developed our various characteristics and showed our worthiness and ability, or the lack of it, but we were also where such progress could be observed.  It is reasonable to believe that there was a Church organization there.  The heavenly beings were living in a perfectly arranged society.  Every person knew his place.  Priesthood, without any question, had been conferred and the leaders were chosen to officiate.  Ordinances pertaining to that pre-existence were required and the love of God prevailed.
Under such conditions it was natural for our Father to discern and choose those who were most worthy and evaluate the talents of each individual.  He knew not only what each of us could do, but what each of us would do when put to the test and when responsibility was given us.  Then, when the time came for our habitation on mortal earth, all things were prepared and the servants of the Lord chosen and ordained to their respective missions.

David O. McKay, Home Memories of President David O. McKay, p. 228-30
Now if none of these spirits were permitted to enter mortality until they all were good and great and had become leaders, then the diversity of conditions among the children of men as we see them today would certainly seem to indicate discrimination and injustice. . . .

. . . Our place in this world [is] then determined by our own advancement or condition in the pre-mortal state, just as our place in our future existence will be determined by what we do here in mortality.

When, therefore, the Creator said to Abraham, and to others of his attainment, 'You I will make my rulers,' there could exist no feeling of envy or jealousy among the million other spirits, for those who were 'good and great' were but receiving their just reward.

Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:58-59
The spirits of men had their free agency. . . .  The spirits of men were not equal.  They may have had an equal start, and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.

Alma 13:10-13--Foreordained

Harold B. Lee, Decisions for Successful Living, 169
. . . I fear there are many among us who because of their faithfulness in the spirit world were "called" to do a great work here, but like reckless spendthrifts they are exercising their free agency in riotous living and are losing their birthright and the blessings that were theirs had they proved faithful to their calling.  Hence as the Lord has said, "there are many called but few are chosen."

Alma 13:11-12--Sanctification

Brigham Young, cited in Ludlow,  A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, 2:248-49

I will put my own definition to the term sanctification, and say it consists in overcoming every sin and bringing all into subjection to the law of Christ.  God has placed in us a pure spirit; when this [the spirit] reigns predominant, without let or hindrance, and triumphs over the flesh and rules and governs and controls . . . , this I call the blessing of sanctification.  Will sin be perfectly destroyed?  No, it will not, for it is not so designed in the economy of heaven.

Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations to sin.  Some suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified body and spirit and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of the adversary of truth.  Were it possible for a person to attain to this degree of perfection in the flesh, he could not die, neither remain in a world where sin predominates.  Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin.  I think we shall more or less feel the effects of sin so long as we live, and finally have to pass the ordeals of death.

Alma 13:17--Melchizedek

Dennis A. Wright, "“None Were Greater”: A Restoration View of Melchizedek", Ensign, Feb. 1998, 30

It is almost impossible to imagine a greater tribute that the Lord could bestow upon another than to lovingly direct that the very order of the Son of God’s own priesthood be known by the name of one of his cherished servants. What a model, what an example the Lord has said is in Melchizedek! He stands as a type or example to all who accept the priesthood or who seek the peace and blessings it offers. All who honor the priesthood of God can join this ancient follower of Christ in declaring—as Melchizedek’s name indicates—“My king is righteousness.”

Alma 13:28--Temptation Above that Which We can Bear

Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 117
Sin is intensely habit-forming and sometimes moves men to the tragic point of no return. . . . As the transgressor moves deeper and deeper in his sin, and the error is entrenched more deeply and the will to change is weakened, it becomes increasingly near-hopeless, and he skids down and down until either he does not want to climb back or he has lost the power to do so.

Alma 14:8-11--Suffering of the Righteous

Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, 3/66
Now, we find many people critical when a righteous person is killed, a young father or mother is taken from a family, or when violent deaths occur.  Some become bitter when oft-repeated prayers seem unanswered.  Some lose faith and turn sour when solemn administrations by holy men seem to be ignored and no restoration seems to come from repeated prayer circles.  But if all the sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended.

If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed.  If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil--all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good.  There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, no Satanic controls.

Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death; and if these were not, there would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood.

Richard G. Scott, Ensign 11/ 95
Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources.  Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges.  The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord's own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing. . . . If you are suffering the disheartening effects of transgression, please recognize that the only path to permanent relief from sadness is sincere repentance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. . . .

When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov 3:11-12). . . . when you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions.  Some serve a useful purpose; others do not.  To ask, Why does this have to happen to me?  Why do I have to suffer this now?  What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. . . . Rather ask What am I to do?  What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change?  Whom am I to help?  How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial?  Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do.  Yet, when you pray with real conviction, "Please let me know Thy will" and "May Thy will be done," you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father.


Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert Millet, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 244
God is not the author of evil, yet within limits and bounds he allows it to exist.  This is done so that the righteous might merit the fulness of his glory and that the wicked, the workers of evil, might in like fashion merit the fulness of his wrath. . . .

There is a great principle demonstrated in trials.  Recall that when Nephi was bound by his brothers he prayed for strength to burst the bands.  Likewise did Alma pray for strength; also, like Nephi, Alma and Amulek were freed according to their faith.

This is a great lesson in life: pray for strength to overcome, not necessarily for the challenges and problems to go away.  Remember: in the strength of the lord we can do all things.

Alma 16:17--The Rest of the Lord

Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 249

The "rest" of the Lord has several different meanings:  1) Physical rest is a blessing, and sleep is more peaceful for the righteous who have peace of mind.  2) The Sabbath is a day of rest, a time set aside to glorify God.  3)  Spiritual rest--also known as peace--comes from the Lord (as an example, consider Joseph Smith's calm as he went to his martyrdom).  4) Ultimate rest, overcoming physical and spiritual death, is gained by entering the presence of the Lord, but true saints can enter it in this life as well.  To enter the rest of the Lord in this life, wrote Elder Bruce R. McConkie, we must know and love God, have faith in His purpose and plan, know we are right, not spend our effort searching for something else, and not be disturbed by people who are trying to deceive us.