Amulek begins wrapping up his sermon. He tell them to come forth and cease to
harden their hearts. This is counsel we
can all use and follow. “Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil” (Psalms
37:8). “He that hath no rule over his
own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28). "Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
They must understand that this life is the time for us to
prepare for our salvation. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:
for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore
cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:11-12).
We are to use this time to prepare to meet God.
“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in
the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
“And the days of the children of amen were prolonged, according to the will of God, that
they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation,
and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God
gave unto the children of men. For he
gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they
were lost, because of the transgression of their parents” (2 Nephi 2:21).
“And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death
which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless
there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this
life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to
prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after
the resurrection of the dead” (Alma 12:24).
“And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to
repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God. For behold,
if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life,
he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for
repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great
plan of salvation would have been frustrated. But behold, it was appointed unto
man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be
cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they
became fallen man” (Alma 42:4-6).
This life is also the time for us to prepare complete the
labors we are given by the Lord. “I
beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from
mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance
and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among
those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of
the spirits of the dead” (D&C 138:57).
Amulek admonished the people to
“come forth and harden not your hearts any longer” (Alma 34:31). This
reiterates the major theme of the missionary message—that despite offenses,
persecution, and adversity, what matters most in life is not a person’s station
or situation but how a person reacts to it. The vital thing is to repent
because “this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32).
According to Amulek, the Zoramite poor could not afford to wait until they were
free or wealthy or part of the elite to do what is good; rather, they needed to
soften their hearts, obey the commandments regardless of their circumstance in
life, and concentrate on the things of God now.[1]
“We often avoid taking action
because we tell ourselves that our problem was caused by circumstances or
people beyond our control. Therefore, we think we can abdicate our
responsibility, and we find ourselves hoping that other people or a change of
conditions will solve our difficulties. Rather, it is our responsibility to
repent—to change, and to move forward without delay. ‘Do not procrastinate the
day of your repentance.’ (Alma 34:33.)
How comfortable some of us become
as we nestle in the web of procrastination. It is a false haven of rest for
those who are content to live without purpose, commitment, or self-discipline.
“We must heed the words in Alma: ‘Behold,
this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of
this life is the day for men to perform their labors.’ (Alma 34:32.)
“Avoid procrastination. We can say
with great accuracy procrastination is an unwholesome blend of doubt and delay.
Oft-used words of the Savior such as ask, seek, knock, go, thrust, are
action words. He would have us use action as we teach and live His principles.”[2]
The Zoramites have received many witnesses about Christ in
the past. Amulek told them not to procrastinate
the day of their repentance. “But behold, your days of probation are past; ye
have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too
late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days
of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness
in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness
which is in our great and Eternal Head” (Helaman 13:38).
“And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall
overtake you; in an hour when ye think not the summer shall be past, and the harvest
ended, and your souls not saved” (D&C 45:2).
This life is given to us to prepare to stand before
God. If we don’t improve during this
life we face a night of darkness where no labor can be done. “I must work the works
of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John
9:4).[3]
‘But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is
that darkness!’ (Matthew 6:23).
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”
(John 3:19).
“What is the ‘night of darkness’ mentioned in Alma 34:33 and
Alma 41:77 It is a descriptive name for the spirit world (p. 255). Is ‘eternal torment’
(Alma 36:12) a torment that lasts forever? No, rather ‘eternal’ represents the
nature of the torment, not the duration, for it ‘comes from God who is Eternal’
(p. 264).”[4]
[1] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson, Journal
of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005):83.
[3] “I
must work the works of him that sent me, while I am with you; the time
cometh when I shall have finished my work,
then I go unto the Father” (Joseph Smith Translation, John 9:4).
[4] Review
of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman
(1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet. Donald W. Parry, Review
of Books on the Book of Mormon 4/1 (1992): 144.
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