Alma 1

April 10, 2007 - Original Post

The Gospel Warrior

V1 – “having warred a good warfare, walking uprightly before God.” I remember in the October 2003 General Conference, at the very beginning President Hinckley spoke. After he spoke, he called Elder David Haight to come up and wave at the audience. Elder Haight was the oldest apostle ever to live since the Gospel was restored. As President Hinckley was commenting on this, he mentioned that Elder Haight was a great warrior in the Gospel. Elder Haight died in 2004. He truly was a warrior of the Lord … he fought for the Gospel truth all his life.

I hope that I can war a good warfare all my life. I need to be steadfast in keeping the commandments and in doing good.

On a related note, I was thinking the other day about how much life is like chess. We must live with purpose and we must limit mistakes in order to get to the endgame and have a fighting chance to win the battle. In chess, one of the levels of play a player must reach is being able to play with no tactical mistakes. If he can reach this level, then he prepares himself to move on to greater challenges of strategy. I think life is the same way. If we (I) can simply rid myself of the small mistakes and omissions, then I would be a position to receive greater understanding of the mysteries of God. I would serve with greater conviction. For example, if I could consistently read and study the scriptures every day and consistently pray every day, then I would be getting somewhere. If I could achieve 100% home-teaching every month and have FHE every week, then I would be accomplishing something. To not forget these commandments and to shun sin … this is what I need to work on.

Priest Craft

Nehor introduced priest craft among the Nephites. Priest craft, from what I understand, is teaching the gospel (or purported gospel truths) for the gain of money. I am unsure of some of these “conferences” and seminars that some members go to. In order to listen to the speakers at these conferences and seminars, people must pay money.

Elder Oakes said the following regarding priestcraft:

Another illustration of a strength that can become our downfall concerns charismatic teachers. With a trained mind and a skillful manner of presentation, teachers can become unusually popular and effective in teaching. But Satan will try to use that strength to corrupt teachers by encouraging them to gather a following of disciples. A Church teacher, Church Education System instructor, or Latter-day Saint university professor who gathers such a following and does this “for the sake of riches and honor” (Alma 1:16) is guilty of priestcraft. “Priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Ne. 26:29).

Teachers who are most popular, and therefore most effective, have a special susceptibility to priestcraft. If they are not careful, their strength can become their spiritual downfall. They can become like Almon Babbitt, with whom the Lord was not pleased, because “he aspireth to establish his counsel instead of the counsel which I have ordained, even that of the Presidency of my Church; and he setteth up a golden calf for the worship of my people” (D&C 124:84). (Dallin H. Oaks, “Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall,” Ensign, Oct 1994, 11)

I am a leery of the practice of merchandising the Gospel. I love the fact that the Church has done almost everything in its power to make available the conference talks and past articles from Church publications. Practically every conceivable document in recent history is found on the lds.org website. I love to be able to search on Gospel subjects (such as this one) and find exactly what the Apostles think of the subject. The Church truly “impart[s] the word of God …. without money and without price (v. 20).

2 Nephi 26:29 has this to say about priest crafts, "He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion."

Nehor not only preached for riches, but he mixed scripture with the philosophies of men. The lies he taught – that all mankind should be saved, meaning eternal life, regardless of having sinned or not. He taught that we need not repent. The truth he mixed in was that the Lord created all men. This was the one truth amidst all the lies.

Thus a whole church was based on the “vain things of the world” (v. 16). We will see that this church hardened many Nephite hearts against the truth.

The proper attitude for teaching the Gospel is to have "faith, hope, charity and love with an eye single to the glory of God." (D&C 4:5) If the teacher strives for these things, then he will teach the true and pure doctrine of Christ.

Persecution
Persecution … it is a word that is used a lot within the Church. There are a couple of definitions from Webster’s on-line dictionary. The first is, “to harass in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically: to cause to suffer because of belief.” The second is, “to annoy with persistence or urgent approaches (as attacks, pleas, or importunities).” I think the whole reason for persecuting someone for his or her beliefs is to make that person change or leave. For example, Laman and Lemuel constantly persecuted Nephi. They did not want Nephi to act the way he did because it made them feel uncomfortable … they didn’t want to have to live up to Nephi’s standard of living, so instead of raising their standards, they wanted to lower Nephi’s.

The pioneer Saints were persecuted for various reasons. Some of the persecutors were former members. These former members were usually offended in some manner and wanted to get their revenge on the members of the church. I think most of these members were angry in one-way or another with Joseph Smith. They ultimately killed the Prophet. The martyrdom of Joseph did not stop the persecution. The Saints were driven from Nauvoo across the plains to Utah. For a season they were not persecuted, but once the Civil War ended, the federal government focused on the Mormons again. I don’t know all the reasons why the early Saints were persecuted, but I think a lot of it has to do with former members who were offended in one way or another.

Even today, there are those who will do anything to speak evil of the Church. If you go and look at that person’s history, you will more than likely find that that person did not strive to cultivate a true testimony. They probably had doubts and never resolved to truly address those doubts. I think it was Elder Maxwell who said that there are those who leave the church, but for whatever reason, they can’t leave the church alone.

As for members persecuting others … we are commanded to not persecute anyone. It seems that the members had problems persecuting non-members (if you will) in Book of Mormon times. They were commanded to not persecute anyone … within the church or without the church. President Hinckley gave a similar warning to members in a General Conference.

A holier-than-thou attitude is not becoming to us. I am in receipt of a letter from a man in our community who is not a member of the Church. In it he says that his little daughter has been ostracized by her schoolmates who are Latter-day Saints. He sets forth another instance of a child who, it is alleged, had a religious medal ripped from his neck by an LDS child. I hope this is not true. If it is, I apologize to those who have been offended.

Let us rise above all such conduct and teach our children to do likewise. Let us be true disciples of the Christ, observing the Golden Rule, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us strengthen our own faith and that of our children while being gracious to those who are not of our faith. Love and respect will overcome every element of animosity. Our kindness may be the most persuasive argument for that which we believe." (Gordon B. Hinckley, “We Bear Witness of Him,” Ensign, May 1998, 4)

Those who would detract from the Church are always quick to point out mistakes made by members. Persecuting others does no good. It is not Christ-like nor does it advance the work of the Lord.

Steadfast and Immovable

Another verse that I really love from this chapter is v.25, “they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God.” My true heart’s desire is to be steadfast and immovable. To me, this means that I am an anchor when it comes to keeping the commandments of God. I need to remain steadfast and constant. This is my hope: that I become a rock in my loyalty to God. I need to be more diligent in reading the scriptures, obeying the commandments and magnifying my callings. I need despise sin in all forms and shun that which is evil. I hope I can become like those few saints described here in Alma 1.

Because the saints were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments, they prospered. And instead of becoming wicked (and thus beginning the so-called Nephite cycle), these saints "got it." They did not become prideful because of their prosperity. Rather they "did not set their hearts upon riches" and they were "liberal to all." (Alma 1:30). And because they were liberal to all, the Lord prospered them even more and they became "far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church." (Alma 1:31)

Did Indulge Themselves
I think that Alma 1:32 perfectly sums up the world in which we live today. All those who were not steadfast and immovable "did indulge themselves." In other words, they did not check their natural desires in the least bit. Rather than feast on the word of God, the indulged themselves in the things of the world.

April 10, 2012 - Addition

Another Look at Nehor's Teachings

Alma 1:3-4 are the core of Nehor's teaching.  Let's examine them line by line to see if they are philosophies of men or if they are scripture.

First off, Nehor claimed his teachings were "the word of God".  How do we know when someone is teaching the word of God as opposed to a philosophy of men?  This topic alone can take up an entire post.  But to be quick, I would say the burden is on the individual.  We must each, on our own, gain a testimony of each General Conference talk; each Ensign article; every Sunday School lesson; every theory proposed by man; every proposed leader. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost to filter out the false and to allow the true.

Next, he "[bore down] against the church"  Just to make it clear, "bear down" means "to advance in a threatening manner" or "to apply maximum effort and concentration"  Similarly, "to bear down on" means to "effect in a harmful or adverse way" (link).  In other words, Nehor was aiming to bring the church down - to bring about its fall.  Further reading of the book of Alma shows that Nehor's teachings were widely successful in their intent.  How do we prevent from "bearing down" against the Church today?  I would say that each of us ought to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If we focus on learning, studying and living the Gospel, we will not go astray.

Nehor's next principle is "every priest and teacher ought to become popular."  I think it is fairly safe to say this is a philosophy of men.  Bishops, Stake Presidents, Sunday School teachers, seminary teachers, Church-sponsored university professors, General Authorities, Apostles ... all of them should be keenly aware that they should not focus on becoming popular.  I think almost all of these people have a clear intent not to become popular - that that is not their main focus.  But sometimes, do we, the congregation - the receivers of the word - do we make them popular?  Do we idolize them?  There is a very subtle slippery slope here.  Again, I think the answer to this problem lies in focusing on the message and not the person.  If we use our spiritual antennae to detect truth and to detect lies, we will not get caught up in the "favorite apostle" or "favorite general authority" or "favorite teacher" game - and thus begin the false doctrine of popularity in preaching the word of God.  Another way to look at this in a succinct matter is to turn Nehor's teaching upside down to get this: "every priest and teacher ought not to become popular."

Nehor next teaches that our priest and teachers "ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people."  Wow!  Let's break this down.  What does "labor with their hands" mean?  To me, it means to work for a living.  In today's terms, it means that our Church leaders should support themselves.  Elder Oaks just gave a talk in the April 2012 General Conference.  In it he talked about the sacrifice of our local leaders and congregation members.  As for our top leaders - the General Authorities - there is a lot of discussion on that - with lots of varied opinions.  A search in the LDS Bloggernacle is probably a good starting place.  So is this Nehor teaching a philosophy of men or is it scripture or is it mingled?  Personally, I think it is a philosophy of men.  At the core (strip everything else away that is not needed), what the Church provides that is of utmost importance to me is the Priesthood and sealing power.  I was baptized, bestowed the Priesthood, endowed and sealed to my wife and children and I did not have to pay for any of that.

Now we get to the grit of Nehor's message - the part that everyone is quick to point out.  He says, "all mankind should be saved at the last day."  Let's use the "flip method" and turn that statement upside down.  "All mankind should not be saved at the last day."  If you take away the need to repent - to change and make better you life - then you change one's perspective on life.  If there is no need to be kind, to serve, to be good and we are left with nothing but our base desires, civilization would revert to the jungle - to anarchy.  And this is the teaching that was so dangerous in Alma's mind.  To be truly sanctified, we have to overcome all our natural desires.  That is at the core of Christ's teachings.  We each have an instinct to choose the wrong in so many ways.  But if we can fight to overcome those instincts, we sanctify ourselves - we purify ourselves - we strip out all that is useless.  And what we have left is beautiful.  Indeed, this philosophy of men that Nehor taught was and is dangerous.  This one thought caused the destruction, both spiritual and temporal, of thousands of Nephites and Lamanites.  This one thought deceives millions of people today.  This one thought is what makes Nehor an anti-Christ because this teaching stands in violent rebellion of what Christ taught.

He goes on by teaching that people "need not fear nor tremble."  This is where the mingling begins.  We are not to live our lives in constant fear and trembling.  We are to let the realities sink deep within our hearts.  In other words, if we truly know what will happen to us if we do not keep the commandments, we ought to fear and tremble unto repentance.  But once we've done that and once we are on constant guard, we can focus on the joy and the abundance of the Gospel.  Nehor would have us believe that we have to always be in a state of fear and tremble.  But if we live and love the Gospel, I just don't think that would be the case.  I can't see a sanctified person fearing and trembling all the time - rather, I see them looking forward to eternal bliss.

The mingling continues, "but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice."  Again, as I noted above, we ought to let the fear of God work within us to repentance.  But once we've entered into the straight and narrow path, we ought to continue in repentance, but we can then begin to look forward to a better life.  God wants us to lift up our heads and rejoice - but with the proper base of repentance and faith on Christ and baptism.

Now Nehor inserts pure scripture, "for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men."  All those statements, by themselves, are true.

But he completely goes astray again by saying, "all men should have eternal life."  Instead, he should have said, "all men should have immortality."  Maybe he mis-understood this scripture - I don't know.  But all men will not live in God's presence for eternity.  Many men will receive a lesser degree of glory because they won't be able to abide the presence of God.  Men not living in the presence of God is not necessarily an act of punishment, but rather an act of mercy.

1 Nephi 8

March 26, 2011

For quite some time, I've been toying with the idea of a personal scorecard to help me keep track of my daily goals and efforts.  I finally made that a reality just yesterday and I've begun keeping score.

I don't think it's a coincidence that I came across 1 Nephi 8:30 on the same day I finalized my personal scorecard.

"But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."

When I read that verse, the phrases "caught hold", "press their way forward", and  "continually holding fast" really stood out.  To me, these imply that we don't leap ro jog along to the tree.  Rather, it almost sounds like a hard-fought ground battle where you have to really earn an inch.  It sounds like any person holding fast to that iron rod will intimately know every inch of that bar.  They don't just hold on to it a bit at arms length and occasionally let go while they run along the path.  There might even have been wind along that path and that to let go means immediate losses.  Perhaps the dark mist was so thick, you could not see the rod even if you were holding on to it.  There may have been zero visibility.

Anyway ... the phrases I mentioned implied certain things to me:

1) Daily, hourly ... constant reinforcement and recommitment
2) Constantly watching, assessing and adjusting

Those things, to me, sound a lot like what a scorecard accomplishes.

October 7, 2006

This chapter dicusses the tree of life vision that Lehi received. I’ve always thought that this could be an inspiring movie or film clip. Maybe someday someone will make it a reality.

In chapter 8 verse 12, Lehi reaches the tree and eats the fruit. After eating, he is “desirous that [his] family should partake of it also.” We shared this scripture often when we asked for references from members (referring to when I was serving as a full-time missionary). They have eaten of the fruit of the gospel and should be desirous that others enjoy the fruit or gospel.

Also, fathers can learn from the example of Lehi, in that we are to teach our family the gospel and then lead them by example. Upon eating of the fruit, Lehi immediately looked for his wife and children.

Lehi also sees the fate of many groups of people in his dream. In verse 21 he sees “numberless concourses of people … pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree.” He sees others commence in the path that leads to the tree, but then lose their way because of the mist of darkness. Others he sees catch hold of the iron rod and press forward until they reach the tree. Upon eating of the fruit, “they cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed” (v. 25). He also sees a large group of people occupying the great and spacious building. These mock and point the finger of scorn at those eating of the fruit (v. 27). And after some partake of the fruit, they look up to the building and see the people mocking them and some who see this mocking become ashamed. Feeling ashamed, these leave the security of the tree and become lost in “forbidden paths” (v. 28). Others were faithful and diligently sought the iron rod. Once they found it, they never let go until they reach the tree and eat of the fruit (v. 30). He also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards the great and spacious building and instead of reaching their goal, they either drown in the fountain or become lost in “strange roads” (v. 31-32).

It seems that there are three main groups: those who eat of the fruit and are not ashamed; those who eat the fruit and are ashamed and end up either becoming lost or finding the great and spacious building and end up mocking the others; and then there are those who are simply lost, never finding the tree and never reach the spacious building.

Obviously those who are truly happy and find real joy are the ones who find the tree and eat of the fruit and are not ashamed. Some of these people find the tree relatively easily. Others must work … they must press and cling to the iron rod. Once they reach the tree, they fall down with exhaustion and gladly eat of the fruit. We can see the similarities between these people in Lehi’s dream and those faithful saints who humbly keep the commandments and constantly serve others. They are the true disciples of Christ. How do they do it? They cling to the iron rod which is the word of God (Hymn 274). They read and study the scriptures every day and strive to apply the Saviors teachings in their lives. Once they do that, then they find the fruit and are happy. Lehi does not hide the fact that reaching the tree is hard work. He mentions “pressing forward” a number of times.

The other group of people are those who reach the tree, eat of the fruit and then become ashamed, either out of pure shame or because of the mocking and finger-pointing from those in the building. What does ashamed mean? It means feeling inferior, inadequate or embarrassed. Usually this feeling comes because one is not confident in his beliefs. He is more concerned about what others think of him rather than deriving feelings of approval from within or even from Above. It seems to me that feelings of shame (from living the Gospel) arise out of immaturity or unbelief. Of course, shame has its place in society. A man ought to be ashamed of himself if he did not use good manners, swore, abused others or cheated on his wife. In those instances, shame can be used to correct bad behavior. But in the Gospel context, we ought not to be ashamed of living a Christ-life life. Romans 1:16 teaches us that we should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

The last group of people never find the tree. We can probably assume that since they never find the tree, they never bothered to look for it or even desire to look for it. I tend to think that these are those who are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). They may stumble upon the truth, but since they don’t desire to really know it, they discount it. In addition to lack of desire, Satan will do all he can to keep people blind to the truth of the Gospel.

Verses 33 and 34 are wonderful verses. I really love them! These two verses contain the perfect solution for the saints of God when confronted with persecution. In my mind’s eye, I see Lehi in his tent telling his family about his dream. I see his white beard and hair and his hands trembling a little as he explained how great the multitude was that entered into that worldly building. And upon entering they pointed the finger of scorn at Lehi and those eating of the fruit of the tree of life. I can almost see lavishly dressed women and young men laughing and jaunting at those humble people below. Then, as Lehi continued, he gave the solution to the world’s persecutions. I can hear his trembling yet powerful and majestic prophetic voice similar to President Benson’s say, “but we heeded them not.” Every time I read that part and picture it in my mine, chills run down my spine. Lehi goes on to explain that “as many as heeded them, had fallen away." Those in the building were so prideful, that in stead of living up to the example of the true followers of Christ, they persecuted them in hopes of making the followers of Christ give up their quest for righteousness so that the prideful can feel better in sinning. As I read the Book of Mormon and look at Church history, it is the same. The saints were persecuted by the prideful – buy why? If the saints were so good and righteous and did not bother any one else, living in peace, why the persecution? It was pride. The prideful people didn’t want to improve or change their lives or standards of living so instead of living up to the example, they tried to eliminate the example.

Regarding verses 24 and 25, how many times in our lives, as saints, do we feel the Spirit or have a spiritual experience and then turn around and deny it? Not that we say that we deny it, but we deny it with our actions. I think Nephi put it best when he said in 1 Nephi 19:7 that men trample under their feet their God. He goes on to say that what he means by trample under their feet is that they set at naught the things of God. In other words, they think that the things of God are not to be taken seriously; they think that it is “good counsel” or advice, but not a commandment. The purpose of spiritual experiences is to help up progress towards perfection, not to just feel good. If we do not learn from our spiritual experiences, then we are looking at that building feeling ashamed that we took of the fruit of the tree of life. We trample God under our feet and set at naught his counsels. I am not proud of the few times I have had spiritual experiences, and then fell into temptation’s power the very next day. I feel much like Nephi when he expresses, “I desire to rejoice, [but] my heart groaneth because of my sins” (2 Nephi 4:19). Thank Father in Heaven for sending his son so that we can repent and receive forgiveness of our sins and correct our behavior. I hope that I will always learn from my spiritual experiences, and not set them at naught.

Stiff Necked and High Heads

I've been immersing myself in the Book of Mormon again.  In an effort to take my reading 'up a knotch' I've decided to read 18 pages a day.  It takes me about 30 minutes to read 18 pages and that's about right for meeting the commandment of reading the Book of Mormon 30 minutes a day.  If you're mathematically astute, you'll know that 18 pages a day equates to reading the Book of Mormon in 30 days.  My short-term goal is to read it 3 times in 3 months.

The first go-around is just to get re-immersed in it.  The 2nd time will focus on Christ in the Book of Mormon.  I'm using a "missionary copy" of the Book of Mormon, so marking it up however I want won't be so "costly."  The 3rd go-around will be a focus on personal application and revelation ... I'll read it through the prism of my current problems and challenges to get answers and direction.

Anyway - on to my comment about the term 'stiff necks' and 'high heads.'  I know they mean obstinateness and pride.  But as I was reading it today in Jacob 2:13, it hit me ... if you have a stiff neck, you can't move your head.  If you can't move your head, you won't see others as easily.  In a spiritual sense, if you can't (or won't) move your head, then you will not see others who are in need and therefore you will not be able to serve others.  You are focused on your own personal appearance and status rather than focusing on serving others.  I don't know why it took me so long to make that connection, but it finally hit home to me this time.

2 Nephi 5

In this chapter, Nephi is warned to leave his leave his older brothers because Laman and Lemuel wanted to kill Nephi. As discussed earlier, Laman and Lemuel's pride was so great that in stead of heeding the teachings and admonitions of Nephi to release themselves of the chains of unrighteousness, they desired to eliminate their source of stress - Nephi. They believed they could accomplish this by killing Nephi. In 2 Nephi 5:3, they clearly state their purpose of killing Nephi: "...now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words." So, just as throughout the entire Book of Mormon history, the downfall and stumbling block of the people is pride. It was the pride of Laman and Lemuel that caused their murmuring and complaining and their desires to kill Nephi.

In verses 15 & 17, Nephi teaches his people to work hard and to be industrious. This is a principal that needs to be taught more in our lives. Too much of our time is filled with watching TV, playing video games and sitting idly. We ought to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause” (D&C 58:27) and we ought to use our time to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. We can use our time to visit our home-teaching families, attend the temple, study the scriptures and serve others. Not only should we help build up the kingdom of God, but we can improve our lives by getting more education or by continuously building upon our education. This life has so much to offer and there are so many good things that we should have no excuse for idleness.

Verse 16 talks about how Nephi builds a temple. It is noteworthy that after Nephi and his people depart from Laman and Lemuel that the first thing he does is make swords to defend his people and then they build buildings. In other words, they see to their basic needs first. As soon as those basic needs are met, the first item on the Spiritual checklist is to build a temple. This teaches us that the temple and the work therein are very important and are a high priority on Heavenly Father’s list.

In verse 27, Nephi makes a simple, but profound statement, “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.” Nephi teaches us that if we truly want to be happy, then we must live righteously. In a cross reference to Alma 41:10, another Book of Mormon prophet teaches us that wickedness never was happiness.