ALMA’S BLESSINGS TO HIS SONS (HELAMAN) 1

Sunday, April 19, 2020

There are some chapters in the Holy Scriptures which need be covered verse by verse if one is going to be blessed with their full impact. There must have been times when during my teaching career in The Church Education System that some students had to wonder, as we were covering chapters like these, if we would ever get through some sections of the scriptures. This is exactly the dilemma I am faced with as I begin to write Thoughts based on chapters 36 – 42 of The Book of Alma in The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In these chapters the Prophet Alma, the son of Alma, in the twilight years of his life pronounces upon his sons Helaman, Shiblon and Corianton, his blessing as their Father and Patriarch.

When I opened The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ, to chapter 36 of the Book of Alma, I immediately recognized that I was about to embark on chapters which could not be covered in one week because of the self imposed restrictions I have placed on my Thoughts, but obviously would extend into a series of Thoughts. Therefore. as I typed the title of this Thought I immediately added the (1), knowing full well these wonderful chapters held an abundance of material and numerous weekly Thoughts would be needed to cover them.

We begin with chapter 36 of The Book of Alma, which contains the first part of his blessing to his eldest son Helaman.

1 My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.

2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions.

3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

There are some testimonies which are only stamped upon one’s soul because of life long experiences. When Alma boldly swears to his son that keeping the commandments would yield prosperity, he was able to do so because of the fulfillment of the promise in his own life.

Although we often are tempted to limit the blessings of prosperity to the material things of life, many are blessed with prosperity of knowing the truthfulness of the gospel, or the prosperity of contentment, or the prosperity of joy as they were blessed to have the gulf between this world and the Eternal World narrowed.

Alma had also gained an undeviating understanding of the value of studying the lives of those who have paved the way for us. He admonishes us to not only know of their sacrifices, but of the importance of knowing that God is actively engaged in their lives.

I don’t even pretend to know how or how much our Heavenly Father is actively involved in all of his children’s lives during their mortal sojourn, but I have a personal witness that there have been heavenly interventions in the journey to which Kathleen and I have been blessed during our lives together. I follow the admonition of Elder Scott, who once told us, that like Mary there are some things we must keep in our hearts, but we are grateful.

4 And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.

To do justice to this verse it would require a theses of extended chapters, but since my purpose of writing my Thoughts is to hope some will be tempted to study and ponder upon the doctrines and principles which I briefly cover, I trust some personal study will happen.

Let me at least express my gratefulness to the Prophet of the Restoration Joseph Smith Jr. for having restored the knowledge that in our pre mortal state we had bodies of spirit material, with minds that could comprehend and were capable of making decisions which carried with them eternal significance. Through the revelations he was blessed to bestow upon us, we also understand that our spirit premortal body resides within our mortal body which becomes a veil between our mortal minds and our spiritual minds.

He also gave us the understanding that through obedience the mortal or temporal mind can receive understanding from our spirit mind. My personal belief is that it is only by having our mortal mind come in tune with our own spiritual mind can we receive instruction and revelation from our Heavenly Father while we abide in this earthly sphere as mortals.

5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself;

6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.

7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.

8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel.

9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.

11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.

12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am bin the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.

As Alma relates the process of the beginning of his born again life it would be good for each of us to remember that process will always be individualized for each of us by our Heavenly Father so that the results will help us maximize our potential as his servants.

I doubt many of us will have a born again experience like those of the Apostle Paul or the young Alma and there seem to be many who the gestation period of being born again extends well into our post mortal state, but I have a personal testimony that our Heavenly Father will labor with us as long as we are striving to reach that state.

(To be continued)


THOUGHTS FOR A SABBATH DAY – WILLIAM L. RILEY

EDITED BY – KATHLEEN W. RILEY

❣️THINK + PLAN + PREPARE + DO + HUGS + PEACE + JOY + LOVE + INTEGRITY + FAITH + HOPE + CHARITY❣️ = 💞THE GOOD LIFE💞