26 And not many days
hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory
of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of
patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and
to answer their prayers.
27 And behold, he
cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on
his name.
28 Therefore, prepare
ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a
reward of their works, according to that which they have been—if they have been
righteous they shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power
and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the
damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil.
29 Now behold, this is
the voice of the angel, crying unto the people.
30 And now, my beloved
brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye ought to be beloved, and ye ought to
bring forth works which are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have
been grossly hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a lost
and a fallen people.
31 Now it came to pass
that when I, Alma, had spoken these words, behold, the people were wroth with
me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked
people.
32 And also because I
said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people they were angry with
me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.
33 But it came to pass
that the Lord did not suffer them that they should take me at that time and
cast me into prison.
34 And it came to pass
that Amulek went and stood forth, and began to preach unto them also. And now
the words of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are
written in this book. (Alma 9-26-34)
Alma continues.
Once again, Alma reminds them the day is soon when Christ will
come in His glory. “Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the
earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in
his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved
brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the King
of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among
all the children of men” (Alma 5:50).
His glory will be full of grace,
equity, and truth. “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy
Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth” (2 Nephi 2:6).
He will be full of patience and mercy. “(For the Lord thy
God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor
forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them” (Deuteronomy 4:31).
“Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy
lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old” (Psalm 25:6).
“Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto
me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies” (Psalm 69:16).
“O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if
the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who
fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise
no more” (2 Nephi 9:8).
“And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about
except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins
of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of
justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also” (Alma
42:15).
He will be quick to hear they cries of His people and answer
their prayers. “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).
“All of us have made wrong turns along the way. I believe
the kind and merciful God, whose children we are, will judge us as lightly as
He can for the wrongs that we have done and give us the maximum blessing for
the good that we do. Alma’s sublime utterance seems to me an affirmation of
this.”[1]
Christ will come to redeem those who are baptized, unto repentance
and have faith in Him. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).
“And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be
baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they
cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23).
“[O]ne day I sat in a temple next to a sister who lives in a
humble house. I spent two hours at her side. I looked often into her beautiful
eyes and saw the love of the Lord in them. As we finished our work in the
temple, I had a powerful realization. In all of the eternal blessings, in all
of our most important privileges and opportunities, we were equals. I had been ‘baptized
unto repentance,’ and so had she. I had spiritual gifts, and so did she. I had
the opportunity to repent, and so did she. I had received the Holy Ghost, and
so had she. I had received temple ordinances, and so had she. If both of us had
left this world together at that moment, we would have arrived equal before the
Lord in our blessings and potential.”[2]
It is time to prepare the way of the Lord. Soon, we shall reap
wards according to your works.
“Then, my brethren,
ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and
long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you” (Alma 32:43).
“Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that
shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your
reward” (D&C 6:33).
“Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto
every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the
measure which he has measured to his fellow man” (D&C 1:10).
If our works are righteous, we will reap salvation through
the power and deliverance of Christ.
If we are wicked, we will reap damnation to our souls,
becoming captive to the devil’s power.
“And shall come
forth; they who have done good, in the resurrection of the
just; and they who
have done evil, in the resurrection of the unjust” (JST John 5:29).
“And not rather, (as
we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil,
that good may come? whose damnation is just” (Romans 3:8).
“Now behold,
this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people” (Alma 9:29).
Rather than listen to Alma’s words, they became angry. Nephi’s
words described these words. “And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked
people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot
misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony
against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the
right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also
deny the prophets and the law” (2 Nephi 25:28).
Because he had told them they were a lost and fallen people,
they attempted to take Alma and Amulek, and throw them into prison. They failed
as the Lord did not allow them to cast them into prison.
Having finished, Mormon tells us Amulek began to preach to
them.
No comments:
Post a Comment