Alma 32-35 - Sermons to the Zoramites

I’ve lived with the nagging fear the tale of the Zoramites is in the Book of Mormon because it’s so easy for me to slip into behaving like them. After Alma shows us how they “worship,” he records three different sermons. Each one used to reclaim these people. Each one touches a different fundamental aspect of discipleship, which if used, will help us become better disciples.

So, what topics are taught? We have Alma’s visually evocative lecture on faith. Will you ever look at a seed again the same way? He promises the test of the seed will work even if all you have is a desire to believe.

Then there’s the admonition to pray for everything: your crops (work), family, enemies and friends. That not only do you pray for them, but that you should pray often for them. I tend to forget the flip side of this in that we also need to help the needy. In effect, it’s acts of charity which give power to our prayers. Or, put another way: if you want God to answer your prayers, serve His children.

There’s a powerful lesson on the Atonement and lastly, (at least for this post) there’s the dire warning that now is the time to repent. Now is the time to improve ourselves. Those who think they’ll wait to the next life to repent will discover the spirit (God or Satan) they choose to listen to in this life won’t change at death. I learned this when I first became a missionary. Back then I thought, “when I become a missionary, I will become a mighty servant of the Lord.” Wrong. To my horror and shock, after arriving in the Language Training Mission, I found out I was still me. The only way I became a servant was by a lot of hard work, prayer, scripture study and fasting. Change came because I worked for it, not because my circumstances had.

Mosiah 12-16 - Abinadi: A Study in Courage

I want to start with a thought I introduced in my previous post about the warnings Abinadi gave the people of Noah. After two years, he returns to prophecy to the people. He says because they haven’t repented, the consequences are worse. Not only will they be brought into captivity, now if they don’t repent, they’ll be destroyed.

This doesn’t go over too well with the people. They capture and bring him to Noah. In Noah’s court, he is summarily condemned as a troublemaker and mad, worthy of death. Then the miracle begins. God protects him and allows him to give his message. He teaches of the preparatory role of the Mosaic Law and of the coming of Jesus Christ and the law He will bring.

In doing so, he quotes one of my most favorite passages of scripture, Isaiah 53. Who isn’t moved by the poetic power of such phrases as, “with His stripes, we are healed?” Or, “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him, the iniquity of us all?” This often brings me to tears to read it.

One of the tactics I use to make it more real for me is a simple word substitution. If you replace “the Lord” with “Heavenly Father,” “Jesus Christ” for “him” and your name for “us” or “we,” it will drive home the power of this passage and show you just how personal our salvation is. We are unique individuals to Them. I am convinced that during the Atonement, the Savior saw each of us, with all our weaknesses, sins, and sorrows and said, in effect, “I do this for you, because I love you.”

I marvel at that. Such is the power of the message Abinadi delivered to Noah and to one of his priests, Alma.

Mosiah 3 - Speaking, again, of Christ

Such a goldmine! I read Mosiah 3 this morning. From a spiritual point of view it’s like trying to drink from a fire hydrant because of the great density of doctrine it contains.

In here is a scriptural definition of the torment the wicked will endure. There are comments about what the Savior will/did go through for us. There is more about our relationship with Him. Again and again, the message is said, that only through Christ can we enjoy all the Father has for us. Only through Him can we find lasting and true joy in this life and in the life to come.

There are stern warnings to those who know better who turn away from Christ and seek their own path through life. Open rebellion is a weighty phrase. Yet that’s what Benjamin uses to describe the actions of those, who having been taught the truth turn away from it to seek their own way through life. The consequences are dire.

This is one of those passages where I hear Elder Maxwell’s voice saying Jesus is not only the God of Love, but also the God of the straight and narrow path.

2 Nephi 9 - the Atonement made simple

In the temple, we make covenants with God. The key ones are: obedience, sacrifice, righteous living, chastity and consecration. Each builds upon the preceding, like layers in a road. To endure, every road needs a strong foundation. For these covenants, it is the Savior and the Atonement.

Jacob’s teaching about it in 2 Nephi Chapter nine goes into depth on explaining why and what it means. It’s no secret God empowers us to ascend to higher levels of righteousness through covenants. While they do, it is the scriptures which help us more completely understand them. This chapter is all about the Savior’s Atonement and what it means for us. Simply, this passage explains in plainness why He did it.

We read in the preceding Isaiah passages of God’s great power and an exhortation to us to trust Him and obey Him. Chapter Nine explains that power and why we should. To more fully appreciate His role in our lives and why it’s important to us, we need to understand this chapter.

While this might seem like basic doctrine, it’s often good to remember and refresh our understanding of the basics. Like that road, it’s the foundation for everything that follows.

Sorry for not having many entries lately, between the rush of the holiday season and all the snow we’ve had, I’ve been kinda busy. I’m still here.

Moroni 8 - God's Universal Mercy

Moroni chapter eight is well known for its lesson on child baptism. What struck me is what it says about the universality of God’s mercy and its sober warning to those who have learned about the gospel but reject it.

The universality of the Atonement is far greater than we realize. Because of it, children and those who can not comprehend sin and consequences of their actions, are held blameless before God. Additionally, all those who don’t know about the commandments, such as Joseph Smith’s brother Alvin, plus a world full of other people, are blameless for their actions.

Those of us who do know must live a higher standard. If we reject it, we will suffer the consequences of our actions. The Lamanites destroyed the Nephites and they destroyed themselves because they all turned from the gospel.

It may seem unfair to learn about the gospel, but here’s a great differentiator… knowing and living the gospel does more for us than just being forgiven of our sins. It’s the grace and power to become like God which is the majesty and great blessing of the gospel.

Christ not only forgives us of our sins, He helps us become like Him and the Father. That's the great blessing. Only through living it can we become like God in this life. Without it, we can still be good, decent, and honorable, but with it we can become Christlike.