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THE SON OF ALMA The words of Alma which he delivered to the people of Gideon, according to his own record. [Comprising chapter 7.] |
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CHAPTER 7Christ shall be born of Mary—He shall loose the bands of death and bear the sins of his peopl—Those who repent, are baptized, and keep the commandments shall have eternal life—Filthiness cannot inherit the kingdom of God—Humility, faith, hope, and charity are required. [About 83 B.C.] |
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1 BEHOLD my beloved brethren, seeing that I
have been permitted to come unto you, therefore I attempt to address
you in my languagea; yea, by my
aown mouth, seeing that it is the first time that I have
spoken unto you by the words of my mouth, I having been wholly confined to
the bjudgment-seat, having had much business that I could
not come unto you.
2 And even I could not have come now at this time were it not that the judgment-seat hath been agiven to another, to reign in my stead; and the Lord in much mercy hath granted that I should come unto you. 3 And behold, I have come having great hopes and much desire that I should find that ye had humbled yourselves before God, and that ye had continued in the supplicating of his grace, that I should find that ye were blameless before him, that I should find that ye were not in the awful adilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla.
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1a I attempt to address you in my language Now since these people are all of one nation, what different languages are among them? First the scriptures are being recorded in reformed Egyptian, the plates of brass were recorded in the Egyptian language, the Mulekites' language had become totally corrupted into its own language and the still retained the Hebrew language. The congregation at Gideon must have been a mixture of Mulekites and Nephites. And if Alma was going to speak to then in 'his own language', it might be ventured to guess that he was going to spreak to them in Hebrew, for even as late as Mormon's and Moroni's time it was stated that if they could have written the Book of Mormon record in the Hebrew language, they could have more perfectly communicated their message, as they were strong in speaking but weak in engraving the reformed Egyptian, which would tend to favor the Hebrew as their spoken language, giving them a strength in their speech. And certainly Alma desired to deliver a strong verbal message. The Mulekites were taught by Mosiah I in the language of the Nephites, presumably Hebrew, by they would most likely have also retained their own language as well. |
1a
Alma 4:19 b Mosiah 29:42 2a Alma 4:18 (16-18) 3a Alma 5:17 (16-17)
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4 But blessed be the name of God, that he hath given me to know,
yea, hath given unto me the exceedingly great joy of knowing that
they are established again in the way of his righteousness.
5 And I trust, according to the Spirit of God which is in me, that I shall also have joy over you; nevertheless I do not desire that my joy over you should come by the cause of so much afflictions and sorrow which I have had for the brethren at Zarahemla, for behold, my joy cometh over them after wading through much affliction and sorrow. 6 But behold, I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren; I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts; yea, I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world; yea, I trust that you do not worship aidols, but that ye do worship the true and bliving God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come.
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6a
2 Ne. 9:37;
Hel. 6:31 b Dan. 6:26
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7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and
behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they
all—for behold, the atime is not far distant that the
Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.
8 Behold, I do not say that he will come among us at the atime of his dwelling in his mortal tabernacle; for behold, the Spirit hath not said unto me that this should be the case. Now as to this thing I do not know; but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to his word. 9 But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—aRepent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God bcometh upon the face of the earth.
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7a
Alma 9:26 8a 1 Ne. 12:6 (4-8); Alma 16:20 9a Matt. 3:2-3; Alma 9:25-26 b Mosiah 3:5; Mosiah 7:27; Mosiah 15:2 (1-7)
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10 And behold, he shall be aborn of Mary, at
bJerusalem which is the cland of our
forefathers, she being a dvirgin, a precious and
chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and econceive by
the power of the Holy Ghosta, and
bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and aafflictions and btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him adeatha, that he may bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to csuccor his people according to their infirmities.
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10a she being a virgin, a precious and
chosen vessel, who shall be overpowered and conceive by the power of the
Holy Ghost None Mary was a virgin and she was a virgin who did
give birth as a virgin, never having known man. And it was by the power of
the Holy Ghost that she did conceive and not by the power of man. If a doctor
today can inseminate a woman without the process of intercourse, then
certainly God has the knowledge and power that Mary could conceive by the
power of God, by the power of the Holy Ghost to bear the only Begotten Son
and Seed of the Father without any such process occuring which would rob her
of her virginity. Thus Mary was a virgin not only at the conception but also
some nine months later at the birth of this Holy Child, the Son of God.
12a he will take upon him death Now Christ was the Son of God and was beyond death, but he was also the son of Mary and did possess the ability to die as to the flesh. Thus his giving of his life was totally of his own free will and choice for he need not die being the Son of the Eternal Father. But he did give his life willingly and none took it from him but according to he so submitting unto it. Thus he did of his free will take upon himself death and this according to the mind and will of the Father, that through His Son the redemption of man may be wrought in the earth. That man might come forth to a resurrection of life. |
10a
Isa. 7:14;
Luke 1:27;
Mosiah 3:8 b Luke 2:4 c 1 Chr. 9:3; 1 Chr. 15:9; 1 Ne. 1:4; 3 Ne. 20:29 d 1 Ne. 11:13-21 e Matt. 1:20; Mosiah 15:3 11a Isa. 53:5 (3-5) b TG Jesus Christ, Temptation of c Mosiah 14:4 (3-5) 12a TG Jesus Christ, Death of b Ps. 116:16 (15-16); 2 Ne. 2:8; Alma 12:25 (24-25); Alma 42:23 c Heb. 2:18; Heb. 4:15; D&C 62:1
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13 Now the Spirit aknoweth all things; nevertheless
the Son of God suffereth according to the bflesh that he
might ctake upon him the sins of his people, that he might
blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and
now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
14 Now I say unto you that ye must arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. 15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth abeset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism. 16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will aremember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.
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13a
TG
God, Omniscience of b TG Jesus Christ, Condescention of c Mosiah 15:12 14a TG Purification 15a 2 Ne. 4:18 16a Ether 12:4; Moro. 7:3
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17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things?
Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the
way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of
the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong
concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken,
great is my joy.
18 For as I said unto you from the beginning, that I had much desire that ye were not in the state of adilemma like your brethren, even so I have found that my desires have been gratified.
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18a
James 1:8
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19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I
perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I
perceive that ye are making his apaths straight.
20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot awalk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round. 21 And he doth not dwell in aunholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is bfilthy shall remain in his filthiness.
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19a
Matt. 3:3 20a 1 Ne. 10:19; Alma 37:12; D&C 3:2 21a 1 Cor. 3:17 (16-17); 1 Cor. 6:19; Mosiah 2:37; Alma 34:36 b 1 Ne. 15:33-35; 2 Ne. 9:16; Morm. 9:14; D&C 88:35
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22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto
you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that
ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy
order of God, after which ye have been received.
23 And now I would that ye should be ahumble, and be bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. 24 And see that ye have afaith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
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23a
Prov. 18:12 b TG Submissiveness 24a 1 Cor. 13:13 (1-13); Ether 12:31 (30-35); Moro. 7:44 (33-48)
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25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that
ye may at last be brought to sit down with aAbraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began,
having your garments bspotless even as their garments are
spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.
26 And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word. 27 And now, may the apeace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.
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25a
D&C 27:10 b 2 Pet. 3:14 27a TG Peace of God
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