Alma 5:1-62

Have you spiritually been born of God?

“In what is without question the greatest sermon of which we have knowledge on the subject of being ‘born of God,’ our friend Alma reasons on this matter of being saved through the blood of Christ” (Bruce R. McConkie, Promised Messiah, 251).

Perhaps this is one of the greatest sermons on “Change of Heart” in the scriptures.

Alma 5 seems to be the main message of the

Book of Alma.

This chapter is an excellent self-evaluation interview.

It is to all people, members and non-members (v.62).

2 Births

1. Physical

2. Spiritual

v.6

“Remember”

President Kimball said that the word remember might be the most important word in the dictionary.

It is used 240 times in the Book of Mormon.

The spiritual usage of the word remembrance often suggest more than the recall of memory (“Always Remember Him”).

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, July 1989, 4).

Alma 5:6-59

Alma’s forty-two questions give a step-by-step formula for how to be born again.

“Do we frequently review the crucial questions which Alma asks the members of the Church in the fifth chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1987, 85).

Alma 5:12-13Elder Marion G. Romney defined this change of heart as conversion:

“Webster says the verb, ‘convert,’ means ‘to turn from one belief or course to another.’ That conversions’ is a spiritual and moral change attending a change of belief with conviction.’ As used in the scripture, ‘converted’ generally implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and in His gospel – a faith which works a transformation, an actual change in one’s understanding of life’s meaning and in his alliance to God – in interest, in thought, and in conduct. While conversion may be accomplished in stages, one is not really converted in the full sense of the term unless and until he is at heart a new person. ‘Born again’ is the scriptural term” (C.R., Oct., 1963, 23).

Some have said that Christ’s first miracle had little to do with wine, marriage, or titles. It had to do with change. Jesus was announcing in a dramatic way that He has the godly power to change things, even when it seems impossible (Alma 5:12).

When we come unto Christ, what we really do is come to partake of His atonement and thus our hearts are changed.

Alma 5:12, 14 “Change”

Pride keeps repentance from even starting or continuing. Some fail because they are more concerned with the preservation of their public image than with having Christ’s image in their countenances! Pride prefers cheap repentance, paid for with shallow sorrow (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1991, 31).

Do not let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage! Walk away from your investment in the penny stock of pride; it never pays dividends (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1982, 39).

Alma 5:14-30 “A spiritual checklist”

v. 21 “Garments”

Much that is sacred and symbolical is taught by reference to the garments. Clean garments are a sign of cleanliness, perfection, and salvation. To gain salvation men must wash their garments in the blood of the Lamb (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 303-04).

Alma 5:14, 19

“The Image of God engraven upon Your Countenances”

President James E. Faust of the First Presidency recounted an experience in which an associate of the Church remarked concerning light in the countenance of Latter-day Saint students:

“I recently recalled a historic meeting in Jerusalem about 17 years ago. It was regarding the lease for the land on which the Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was later built. Before this lease could be signed, President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of Brigham Young University, agreed with the Israeli government on behalf of the Church and the university not to proselyte in Israel.

“You might wonder why we agreed not to proselyte. We were required to do so in order to get the building permit to build that magnificent building which stands in the historic city of Jerusalem. To our knowledge, the Church and BYU have scrupulously and honorably kept that non-proselyting commitment. After the lease had been signed, one of our friends insightfully remarked, ‘Oh, we know that you are not going to proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes?’ He was referring to our students who were studying in Israel” (C.R., Oct. 2005, 19).

Alma 5:26

“Conversion is a Continuous Process”

“Testimony isn’t something you have today and you are going to have always. A testimony is fragile. It is as hard to hold as a moon-beam. It is something you have to recapture everyday of your life” (Church News, 15 July, 1972, 4, Harold B. Lee).

This is the call to keep our witness and our experience with the Spirit current and up to date… We cannot afford to pause and homestead on spiritual plateaus. Our task is to move on, to progress” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 3:32).

Elder Neal A Maxwell wrote, “This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us if we remember that there are no instant Christians” (Notwithstanding My Weakness, 11).

Alma 5:28

“Are You Stripped of Pride”

C.S. Lewis declared that “as long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

President Benson said that, “Pride does not look up to God and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right…Pride is characterized by “What do I want out of my life?” Rather than by “What would God have me do with my Life?” It is self-imposed to God’s will…Humility responds to God’s will --- to the fear of His judgment and the needs of those around us. To the proud, the applause of the world rings in their ears; to the humble, the applause of heaven warms their hearts (Cleansing the Inner Vessel” 6-7, Ensign, May 86).

Alma 5:29 Being “Stripped of Envy”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that envy, born of worldly influences, stands in opposition to God’s perfect love:

“It has been said that envy is the one sin to which no one readily confesses, but just how widespread that tendency can be is suggested in the old Danish proverb, ‘If envy were a fever, all the world would be ill.’…As others seem to grow larger in our sight, we think we must therefore be smaller. So, unfortunately, we occasionally act that way.

“How much does this happen, especially when we wish so much that it would not? I think one of the reasons is that every day we see allurements of one kind or another that tell us what we have is not enough. Someone or something is forever telling us we need to be more handsome or more wealthy, more applauded or more admired than we see ourselves as being. We are told we haven’t collected enough possessions or gone to enough fun places. We are bombarded with the message that on the world’s scale of things we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.”

“But God does not work this way…

“….I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us---insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone. May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize” (C.R., Apr., 2002, 72).

Alma 5:43

Why should we teach the gospel in plain terms?

“President Harold B. Lee, frequently challenged those who teach the gospel to do so in such a manner that their students would not only understand what they had been taught but also could not misunderstand the principles taught” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 3:39).

Alma 5:53-54

“Vain Things of the World”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught that the “vain things of the world” include every combination of that worldly quartet of property, pride, prominence, and power (C.R., Apr. 2001, 109).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland also noted that vanity of physical appearance is spiritually dangerous: “In terms of preoccupation with self and a fixation on the physical, this is more than social insanity; it is spiritually destructive and it accounts for much of the unhappiness…in the modern world. And if adults are preoccupied with appearance---tucking and nipping and implanting and remodeling everything that can be remodeled---those pressures and anxieties will certainly seep through to children. At some point the problem becomes what the Book of Mormon called ‘vain imaginations’ [1 Nephi 12:18]. And in secular society both vanity and imagination run wild. One would truly need a great and spacious makeup kit to complete with beauty as portrayed in media all around us” (C.R., Oct. 2005, 30-31).

Alma 5:57“Come Ye Out from the Wicked…and Be Ye Separate”

Elder David R. Stone of the Seventy discussed how techniques used in the construction of the Manhattan New York Temple provide an example of how to remove oneself from the influence of the world.

“My involvement with the building of the Manhattan Temple gave me the opportunity to be in the temple quite often prior to the dedication. It was wonderful to sit in the celestial room and be there in perfect silence, without a single sound to be heard coming from the busy New York streets outside. How was it possible that the temple could be so reverently silent when the hustle and bustle of the metropolis was just a few yards away?

“The answer was in the construction of the temple. The temple was built within the walls of an existing building, and the inner walls of the temple were connected to the outer walls at very few junction points. That is how the temple (Zion) limited the effects of Babylon, or the world outside.

“There may be a lesson here for us. We can create the real Zion among us by limiting the extent to which Babylon will influence our lives….

“Wherever we are, whatever city we may live in, we can build our own Zion by the principles of the celestial kingdom and ever seek to become the pure in heart….

“We do not need to become as puppets in the hands of the culture of the place and time. We can be courageous and can walk in the Lord’s paths and follow His footsteps” (C.R., Apr. 2006, 94-97).

Physical Spiritual

1. The process of physical birth 1. The process of spiritual was designed by Heavenly Father. birth was designed by

Heavenly Father.2. Everyone experienced physical 2. Everyone can and should birth. experience spiritual birth.3. During the nine months of gestation 3. Satan is not allowed to the baby is allowed to grow and tempt children before the develop in a protected environment. age of accountability. We

also have the home and the Church to help

us prepare spiritually for life.

4. Development of various senses 4. Development of spiritual helps us cope with the world. senses helps us cope with

temptation.5. A change in the heart occurs at birth. 5. A change in the heart occurs

at rebirth.

Alma 6:6

“Fasting and Mighty Prayer”

Why?

In behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.

Alma 7:9-16

Four areas the “Atonement” covers:

1. Temptations of every kind2. Pains and sicknesses of His people3. Death4. Infirmities (weaknesses)

Alma gives one of the most revealing and encouraging statements about the breadth of the Atonement and the range of ills and heartaches it would cover.

Alma 7:11

How did Jesus Christ know “temptations” better than anyone else?

“C.S. Lewis wrote:

‘A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is… You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down’” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1960, 124; quoted in James E. Faust, Ensign, November 1987, 35).

The supreme sacrifice of the Savior also shows Heavenly Father’s great love for us.

“His Father looked on with great grief and agony over His Beloved Son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: ‘My God, my God,’ why hast thou forsaken me?”

“In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child and has to be taken out of the room so as not to look upon the last struggles, so He bowed His head and hid in some part of the universe, His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for His Son.

Oh, in that moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did not fail us, for He had not only the love of His son in mind, but He also had love for us. I rejoice that He did not interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the sufferings of His Son and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without Him, with His sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into His presence. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of His Son unto men” (Crusade for Righteousness, 1966, 137).

Joseph Smith declared the “Atonement” to be the most fundamental doctrine of our faith. All other doctrines he maintained were but appendages to it (Teachings, 121).

How does Jesus succor his people? (v. 12)

“Elder Talmage used the word succor. Do you know it’s meaning? It is used often in the scriptures to describe Christ’s care for and attention to us. It means literally ‘to run to.’ What a magnificent way to describe the Savior’s effort in our behalf…He is unfailingly running to help us” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, April 1998, 22).

Suffering:

Do you know, the suffering of the innocent is less of a problem to me very often than that of the wicked. It sounds absurd: but I’ve met so many innocent sufferers who seem to be gladly offering their pain to God, in Christ as part of the Atonement, so patient, so meek, even so at peace, and so unselfish that we can hardly doubt they are being, as St. Paul says, ‘made perfect by suffering.’ On the other hand I meet selfish egoists in whom suffering seems to produce only resentment, hate, blasphemy, and more egoism. They are the real problem (The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, vol. 3, 520).

Elder Orson F. Whitney wrote:

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. …It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.

No mortal man can cry out, “He does not understand my plight, for my trials are unique.” There is nothing outside the scope of the Savior’s experience. As Elder Maxwell observed, “None of us can tell Christ anything about depression” (Maxwell, “Enduring Well,” 10).

As a result of is mortal experience, culminating in the Atonement, the Savior knows, understands, and feels every human condition, every human woe, and every human loss. He can comfort as no other. He can lift burdens as no other. He can listen as no other. There is no hurt he cannot soothe, rejection he cannot assuage, loneliness he cannot console. Whatever affliction the world casts at us, he has a remedy of superior healing power.

Truman Madsen spoke forcefully of the Savior’s comforting powers:

“No human encounter, not tragic loss, so spiritual failure is beyond the pale of his present knowledge and compassion….And any theology which teaches that there were some thing{s} he did not suffer is {a} falsification of his life. He knew them all. Why? That he might succor, which is to say comfort and heal, this people. He knew the full nature of the human struggle” (Madsen, Christ and the Inner Life, 5, 12).

We are living on a small planet that is part of a very modest solar system, which, in turn, is located at the outer edge of the awesome Milky Way galaxy. If we were sufficiently distant from the Milky Way, it would be but another bright dot among countless other bright dots in space, all of which could cause us to conclude comparatively, “that man is nothing.” Yet we are rescued by reassuring realities such as that God knows and loves each of us, personally and perfectly. Hence, there is incredible intimacy in the vastness of it all. Are not the very hairs of one’s head numbered? Is not the fall of each sparrow noticed? (Matthew 10:29-30). Has Jesus not borne, and therefore knows, our individual sins, sicknesses, and infirmities? (Alma 7:11-12). (Neal A. Maxwell, We Will Prove Them Herewith, 1-2).

Alma 7:20 “His course is one eternal round”

“God’s course is one eternal round but it is not one monotonous round. God is never bored…There is always so much to notice, so much to do, so many ways to help, so many possibilities to pursue” (Neal A. Maxwell, A More Excellent Way, 84-85).

Alma 7:21 “This is why we must repent”

Alma 7:23-24 “Followers of Christ”

No one really understands the mighty change unless and until he or she has experienced it!

President David O. McKay tells of a singular event that happened to him:

After falling asleep, he said he “beheld in vision something infinitely sublime.”

He saw a beautiful city, a great concourse of people dressed in white, and the Savior. “The city, I understood, was His. It was the City Eternal; and the people following him were to bide there in peace and eternal happiness. But who were they? “As if the Savior read my thoughts, he answered by pointing to a semicircle that then appeared above them, and on which were written in gold the words: “These are they who have overcome the world --- who have truly been born again!” “When I awoke, it was breaking day” (Cherished Experiences from the Writings of President David O. McKay, 59-60).