Results of Believing and Acting in Faith...Results of “Learn, Act, Share”

Alma 15:1 shows us the results or consequences of believing in the words of God’s messengers. The people of Ammonihah who believed were either cast out and stoned or cast into a fire.

Sometimes we have this false notion that if we give our lives to the Lord that He will bless us temporally and spiritually in the ways we think He should. I have noticed that as I follow Him, many times the persecution will come in many different ways but ultimately I have more peace and love of God in my soul.

We also see in Alma 14 what happened to Alma and Amulek. Alma was told by an angel to go preach again to the people in Ammonihah and Amulek was called by Alma to go preach with him. The happy result for them was they were blessed to dwell in the Spirit and have great joy. Amulek said that Alma blessed his wife and children and even his father and his kinsfolk (Alma 10:11). Shortly after that the challenges came. Alma and Amulek were thrown into prison, spit upon, beaten, starved and stripped naked for many days. They even were forced to witness the women and children who believed in their words be forced into the fire (Alma 14). Later we learn that Amulek’s father and his friends rejected him. The record says this, “Amulek having forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things, which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God, he being rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred;’’ (Alma 15:16). So, his father once believed and many of his kindred. It appears that once things got difficult and persecution came, they went back to how they were before and rejected Alma and his message. Amulek stayed true to Alma’s words so they rejected him too. What was once a blessed time for them learning from Alma was now a distant memory and life was hard. So hard that Alma takes Amulek into his own house for a time to minister to him (Alma 15:18).

As we share greater light and truth by the power of the Holy Ghost with others, we can expect that the Spirit will carry it unto the hearts of those we share with (2 Nephi 33:1) but at that point they decide if they will truly receive it or not when the heat cometh and tests their faith.

I have had the experience of being encouraged by friends and family to share scriptures and words of the prophets with them from Isaiah or other scriptures. In the moment, the Spirit was there and they all felt the Spirit confirm the truth. Later, after we depart, they rethink it and decide that what I shared from the scriptures was wrong and then they turn on me and reject me and even go to my leaders and twist the truth to bear false witness against me. I have come to love this interchange with Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah  because there are so many patterns that are shown that will happen to us as we follow the Lord. I testify that the teaching of the Book of Mormon of “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11) is a true principle. We must stay the course as Amulek and those that heard his witness and Alma’s witness. When life gets uncomfortable for believers, that is the opportunity to show who we really love...God or mammon. I have also learned that the test of charity and the desire to still love those who reject and persecute us is the real challenge of the Savior. Not only are we willing to stand up for light and truth, but are we willing to choose to love those that hate us and persecute us? That is one of the tests of exaltation, I believe, to be full of love for all of God’s children, regardless of their performance, for that is how God loves us. Of course, He can only trust us with more and more as we receive more and more. It’s entirely up to us what we are willing to go through and learn from. Ultimately peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come are worth anything required here in this probationary state. “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23). I can witness that the peace that passeth all understanding is with us even in the very moment of greatest persecution. He doesn’t leave us comfortless, as promised. In fact, He will come to us (Philippians 4:7; John 14:18).

Reactions to Light and Truth

I’m intrigued with the first few verses in Alma 14. My mind and heart have been caught up in the pattern of receiving additional light and truth, going from one great principle of light to a greater truth, from one law that is a building block to a greater law. For example, the Law of Moses preparing one for the Melchizedek law or order. You actually end up breaking the law of Moses to live a greater law and become a more fully developed disciple of Christ. That is really hard to do when you’ve disciplined yourself to be exactly obedient to a law. So, how does this work? How do you know if God is teaching you greater truth or if the evil one is deceiving you? I think Alma 14 gives us some great insights. 

Amulek has finished speaking to the people and then Alma finishes speaking unto the people. This is after Alma had been rejected by the people of Ammonihah but the Lord told him to go back and then Amulek takes him in, feeds him and Alma teaches him and then they go out to preach the word together. Verse 1 says this, “And it came to pass after he had made an end of speaking unto the people many of them did believe on his words, and began to repent, and to search the scriptures” (Alma 14:1). So what is the first thing the people do after hearing additional light and truth? They repent. After hearing the word the Spirit pricks their hearts and minds and they start to change or repent. What’s the other thing they do at the same time? They start to search out the scriptures. The word of God invites the Spirit into our lives and we turn to the word of God with more intensity then we had before. We hunger and thirst after more and more light and truth. This is a huge key to know if we are drawing closer to or further away from the Lord. Alma 32 adds this, “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me” (Alma 32:27-28).

It also is interesting to me that verse 28 speaks of the word “swelling within your breasts,” and “it beginneth to enlarge my soul,” and “it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” The truth speaks to our minds and our hearts as stated so clearly in Doctrine and Covenants, “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3). Joseph Smith also taught that the Holy Ghost has no other effect then pure intelligence (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 149).

The protection we have is the Holy Spirit because by the power of the Holy Ghost we may know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:5). 

There is an additional insight from Alma 14 that stuck out to me. In verse 1 we learned that many did believe on his words but in verse 2 it says the more part of the people rejected them. Here is the record, “But the more part of them were desirous that they might destroy Alma and Amulek; for they were angry with Alma, because of the plainness of his words unto Zeezrom; and they also said that Amulek had lied unto them, and had reviled against their law and also against their lawyers and judges. And they were also angry with Alma and Amulek; and because they had testified so plainly against their wickedness, they sought to put them away privily” (Alma 14:2-3).

They were angry because of the “plainness of his words.” The scriptures teach that the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. I think that is because it divides us. We either believe in the word of God or we don’t. Then they accused them of lying and reviling against their law and against their lawyers and judges. Because they didn’t understand their own laws they mistakenly judge Alma and Amulek to be in the wrong. They were angry with them and sought to get rid of them. Darkness always seeks to get rid of the light. For, like in the days of Jesus, darkness cannot stand the light for it reveals unto men their sinful state and the repentance needed. When light shows us our weakness we can either humble ourselves and change, repent, or seek to kill the light. John’s record speaks clearly about this reaction to light and specifically the Jews reaction to the Light of the world, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19-21). 

Those that reject truth also try and twist the words of the righteous. In the case of Alma and Amulek and those they witnessed against, the people said Alma and Amulek  “testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his Son among the people, but he should not save them” (Alma 14:5). They are referring back to the argument Zeezrom had with them in emphasizing that they preached God would come among His people but not save them. Alma and Amulek had testified Christ would not save them IN their sins but that was twisted by these wicked lawyers (Alma 11:34). Helaman 5:10 makes it clear that Alma and Amulek were clearly stating that Christ would come to redeem them FROM their sins, not IN their sins. 

I have seen how those of a smaller mind and heart will twist the words of the righteous to put them away and discredit and defame them. The wicked hate the righteous because it exposes their darkness and shows the need for them to repent. Repentance is hard. It’s beautiful, but difficult when we have to change our habits of living or even our thought processes. Thus, growing line upon line, precept upon precept takes humility and a willingness to be open to the whole word of God and go to God for a confirmation of what is truth and what is not. 

We can expect that when we are following the word of God that we will be rejected by the majority of the people. That has always been the case throughout history. We must be true to the word of God, always repenting, that He might give us more and more light to reveal our wickedness so we can change and become like Him and to truly know Him and thus receive eternal life. 

Discovering the Whole Truth

If we think we see the whole truth then we are deceived. God said this through His prophet, Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Line upon line, precept upon precept He will reveal Himself to us. I love this video clip taken from a speech that was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/discovering-truth

Here is the whole speech by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I highly recommend it:  https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2013/01/what-is-truth?lang=eng

(“What Is Truth?” [Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 13, 2013], speeches.byu.edu).

“A Bible, A Bible” or Choosing to Gain Knowledge of Light and Truth

Teachings of Joseph Smith

The gospel of Jesus Christ embraces all truth; the faithful accept the truths God has revealed and put aside false traditions.

“Mormonism is truth; and every man who embraces it feels himself at liberty to embrace every truth: consequently the shackles of superstition, bigotry, ignorance, and priestcraft, fall at once from his neck; and his eyes are opened to see the truth, and truth greatly prevails over priestcraft. …

“… Mormonism is truth, in other words the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints, is truth. … The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same.”⁵

In January 1843, Joseph Smith had a conversation with some people who were not members of the Church: “I stated that the most prominent difference in sentiment between the Latter-day Saints and sectarians was, that the latter were all circumscribed by some peculiar creed, which deprived its members the privilege of believing anything not contained therein, whereas the Latter-day Saints … are ready to believe all true principles that exist, as they are made manifest from time to time.”⁶

“I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot subscribe to, though all of them have some truth. I want to come up into the presence of God, and learn all things; but the creeds set up stakes [limits], and say, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further’ [Job 38:11]; which I cannot subscribe to.”⁷

“I say to all those who are disposed to set up stakes for the Almighty, You will come short of the glory of God. To become a joint heir of the heirship of the Son, one must put away all his false traditions.”⁸

“The great thing for us to know is to comprehend what God did institute before the foundation of the world. Who knows it? It is the constitutional disposition of mankind to set up stakes and set bounds to the works and ways of the Almighty. … That which hath been hid from before the foundation of the world is revealed to babes and sucklings in the last days [see D&C 128:18].”⁹

“When men open their lips against [the truth] they do not injure me, but injure themselves. … When things that are of the greatest importance are passed over by weak-minded men without even a thought, I want to see truth in all its bearings and hug it to my bosom. I believe all that God ever revealed, and I never hear of a man being damned for believing too much; but they are damned for unbelief.”¹⁰

“When God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man, and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned. The Israelites prayed that God would speak to Moses and not to them; in consequence of which he cursed them with a carnal law.”¹¹

“I have always had the satisfaction of seeing the truth triumph over error, and darkness give way before light.”¹²

Gaining knowledge of eternal truths is essential to obtaining salvation.

“Knowledge is necessary to life and godliness. Woe unto you priests and divines who preach that knowledge is not necessary unto life and salvation. Take away Apostles, etc., take away knowledge, and you will find yourselves worthy of the damnation of hell. Knowledge is revelation. Hear, all ye brethren, this grand key: knowledge is the power of God unto salvation.”¹³

“Knowledge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is. … In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all other beings, because He has greater knowledge; and hence He knows how to subject all other beings to Him. He has power over all.”¹⁴

“As far as we degenerate from God, we descend to the devil and lose knowledge, and without knowledge we cannot be saved, and while our hearts are filled with evil, and we are studying evil, there is no room in our hearts for good, or studying good. Is not God good? Then you be good; if He is faithful, then you be faithful. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and seek for every good thing [see 2 Peter 1:5].

“… A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.”¹⁵

Joseph Smith taught the following in April 1843, later recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 130:18–19: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.”¹⁶

Joseph Smith taught the following in May 1843, later recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 131:6: “It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.”¹⁷

We obtain knowledge of eternal truths through diligent study and prayer.

George A. Smith, while serving in the First Presidency, reported: “Joseph Smith taught that every man and woman should seek the Lord for wisdom, that they might get knowledge from Him who is the fountain of knowledge; and the promises of the gospel, as revealed, were such as to authorize us to believe, that by taking this course we should gain the object of our pursuit.”¹⁸

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the following to a man who had recently joined the Church: “You remember the testimony which I bore in the name of the Lord Jesus, concerning the great work which He has brought forth in the last days. You know my manner of communication, how that in weakness and simplicity, I declared to you what the Lord had brought forth by the ministering of His holy angels to me for this generation. I pray that the Lord may enable you to treasure these things in your mind, for I know that His Spirit will bear testimony to all who seek diligently after knowledge from Him.”¹⁹

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the following to a man who wanted to learn more about the Church: “Study the Bible, and as many of our books as you can get; pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, have faith in the promises made to the fathers, and your mind will be guided to the truth.”²⁰

“The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! …

“… Let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy. And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always, He shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost [see D&C 121:26].”²¹

We gain knowledge of eternal truths a little at a time; we can learn all things as fast as we are able to bear them.

“It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us; but that we should have a little at a time; then we can comprehend it.”²²

“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.”²³

Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency gave the following instructions to the Saints who were gathering to Nauvoo: “To those who … can assist in this great work, we say, let them come to this place; by so doing they will not only assist in the rolling on of the Kingdom, but be in a situation where they can have the advantages of instruction from the Presidency and other authorities of the Church, and rise higher and higher in the scale of intelligence until they can ‘comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length, and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.’ [Ephesians 3:18–19.]”²⁴

“God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him … from the least to the greatest [see Jeremiah 31:34].”^25. https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-22?lang=eng#note23-

“This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know that it is good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as sweet, and rejoice more and more.“ https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/05/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng