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).
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