17 Yea, there are many
who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of
a surety; then we shall believe.
18 Now I ask, is this
faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no
cause to believe, for he knoweth it.
19 And now, how much
more cursed is he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not, than he that
only believeth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth into transgression?
20 Now of this thing
ye must judge. Behold, I say unto you, that it is on the one hand even as it is
on the other; and it shall be unto every man according to his work.
21 And now as I said
concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore
if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
22 And now, behold, I
say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto
all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye
should believe, yea, even on his word.
23 And now, he
imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now
this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times,
which confound the wise and the learned. (Alma 32:17-23)
He explain many ask for a sign. If they receive a sign they
will know and believe. But, he asks, is receiving a sign faith? No, because he
knows and “hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it” (Alma 32:18).
“For if there be no faith among the children of men God can
do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their
faith…
“And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until
after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God” (Ether 12:12,
18).
The who knows the will of God, and doesn’t do it, is cursed.
“Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I
delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings, ye that hear me; and ye
that hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest
of all cursings” (D&C 41:1).
He is worse off than those who only believe but fall into
sin.
It is at this point in his sermon, he gives us the
definition of faith. “[F]aith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things;
therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are
true” (Alma 32:21).
When Thomas said he would not believe Christ had been
resurrected until he saw “in his hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side” (John
20:25), The Savior told him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast
believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John
20:29).
“And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these
things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for
and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).
“[Alma] has his feet on the ground—when a person has faith
he hopes for things which are not seen, which are true. This is clearer and in
many respects a more satisfactory statement about faith than the one in
Hebrews: ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.’ (Hebrews 11:1) Alma takes faith out of the realm of mere
credulity—i.e., readiness to believe on slight evidence. A note in his
statement rings true to the critical mind. Too many persons in every
generation, including our own, hope for things—fantastic things—in the name of
faith and religion, but give little thought as to whether or not they are based
on truth.”[1]
We are to remember God is merciful to all who believe. “But
the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear
him, and his righteousness unto children’s children” (Psalm 103:17).
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is
merciful” (Psalm 116:5).
He desires we believe on His word.
He reveals His words by angels to both men and women.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those
days will I pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28-29).
He also has given words to children which confound the wise
and learned.
“And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the
children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their
tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even
greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that
they could utter…
“Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude
gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea,
even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things
which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them” (3 Nephi
26:14,16).
“To prepare the weak for those things which are coming on
the earth, and for the Lord’s errand in the day when the weak shall confound
the wise, and the little one become a strong nation, and two shall put their
tens of thousands to flight” (D&C 133:58).
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