Uncommon Consent

36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. (Matthew 26)

A long, long time ago, as I was going through an LDS temple endowment session, the Lord encouraged me to think on the significance of “cups.” I immediately thought of the cup that “runs over” mentioned in Psalm 23 and of the many ways in which the Lord had blessed me in “goodness and mercy” thus far in my life.

Following that session, I entered the temple’s celestial room and picked up a copy of the scriptures to see what they had to say on the subject. If I recall correctly, it was a triple combination that I picked up—a volume that included the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. I looked up “cup” in the index and was shocked by the fact that every scripture reference for that word had a negative connotation—a cup of fury, a cup of wrath, a cup of indignation, a bitter cup—and that was a key to a subsequent flood of understanding about other aspects of the gospel. There are two “cups.” And interestingly, I wasn’t scared of the idea of having to encounter a bitter cup in the process of ascent. There was just a solemn realization of a point of fact: To the degree that I wanted to know Christ, I would need to experience the same kind of unmerited suffering that he does, and the Lord was preparing me for that.

Anyone who has been through an LDS endowment should reflect on what is offered to them, through symbols, at various stages of the endowment and on the importance of consent in receiving what is offered.

Fast forward. Years later, the Lord instructed me to take the sacrament, on my own and with unleavened bread and wine. On many levels, that experience provided many poignant lessons to me. One of them came as I brought the glass of wine to my lips. For reasons that I’m not going to get into right now, I have an aversion to alcohol—not the idea of drinking alcohol, but the alcohol itself—and the smell of the alcohol in the wine put my mind and heart in a place where the last thing, in the entire world, that I wanted to do was to drink that wine. It triggered a physical response, and my stomach turned. More than once. To say that I was “reluctant” to drink would be too strong a description for what I felt. “Hesitant” would be better. I imagine Nephi feeling much the same way in those moments before he slew Laban—not unwilling to do as the Lord commanded, but carefully evaluating and integrating the benefit of doing such a thing because of a willingness to search out, in the light of Christ, those things that are good and to do them.

From that singular lesson, many realizations were made. In the few seconds between the moment that I got a strong whiff of the wine and the moment when I finally drank it, the Lord showed me the benefit of being obedient to his direction to partake of the sacrament in that manner. In doing as he directed, he gave me a glimpse of how and what he felt as he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.

Now let me rewind for a minute.

When I was young, I was taught about the law of “common consent.” It’s not talked about very much anymore in the LDS church, I don’t think. I think if you were to bring it up to young people in the LDS church today, most wouldn’t have any idea of what you were talking about.

But it is an interesting thing to think about—what paths most people are willing (and then asked) to consent to and what they are not. And herein lies a great key to both recognizing others who have great light and becoming a person with greater light. Having the greatest measure of light, Christ becomes a standard by which we can gauge our own as we compare our mortal (and immortal) experiences with his. He consented to the greatest amount of unmerited suffering that any mortal could. Christ’s level of consent was extremely uncommon, and as you become like him, your level of consent will need to become the same.

Fast forward again. The Lord gave me a dream in which he foreshadowed things that he would soon bring into my life.

Then, through a set of relatively recent circumstances, the Lord gave me the opportunity to consent to a task that I, most assuredly, would have turned away from had he not shown me the necessity of engaging in it for the benefit of another. I knew that, in accepting the task, there would be a measure of unmerited suffering that I would be required to go through, but I had no idea what it would actually be like.

Looking back, I can honestly say that what I learned about him, about heaven and hell, and about reality was absolutely worth it.

In saying all of this, I am NOT saying that you should go out looking for ways in which to “consent” to things that God has not asked for. However, if you ever have a dream or any other type of foreshadowing in which the Lord shows you the depths of hell, steel your mind and heart to trust in God, submit to whatever he eventually does ask of you, and then hang on tight as he takes you into those depths in real life. He doesn’t leave you there. He takes you there so that you can be of service to Him and others and thereby enjoy the heights of heaven. And that is not bitter. It is sweet.

Make your level of consent uncommon.

The Holy Order of God—Part VII

Perhaps now would be a good time for me to explain why (at least, in part) I started a series of blogposts on this topic in the first place. 

I started it because I have long had a fascination with Alma 13. It’s one of those chapters that makes your head spin when you first read it. It did for me, anyway. I remember feeling like there was so much I needed to understand but couldn’t, and, though I don’t think I could have put this into words at the time, I had a deep realization that, in order to come to a more correct understanding of what I was reading, some of my beliefs were going to have to change. And I don’t know that this is the best way to put this, even now, but I remember feeling like whatever I would learn would help me “come home.” Somehow, I knew that what I didn’t yet consciously know was, in actuality, something very familiar to me.

Hmm…I’m not totally happy with those last two sentences, but I’ll go with that for now. :/

It’s taken me a long time to put up this last post because there is so much to say about “the holy order of God,” and I’ve debated what I should say and what I shouldn’t. If you haven’t noticed already, there are many implications in what I’ve presented so far, and there are many more in what I haven’t, so I think that I will just wrap up this series with a few parting thoughts.

A study of God’s “order”—his arrangement of individuals into ranks and classes, in addition to the ranks and classes themselves—can provide us with some very important information about how we are to progress towards God. What do those ranks and classes look like? What is ordination? How is one “ordained” to a certain order? What does that look like? What qualities and characteristics separate individuals of one “order” from another? Why is it important to understand any of this? I think the answer to this question is three-fold.

1 And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.

2 And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. (Alma 13)

Similar language is found in verse 16:

Now these ordinances were given after this manner, that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a type of his order, or it being his order, and this that they might look forward to him for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord. (Alma 13)

In these verses, we see that there are things about “the holy order of God” that are meant to help people “look forward to [God’s] son for redemption” and “for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord.” These things are meant to help us recognize the Son and others who belong to orders higher than the one we are currently in. Moreover, they are meant to teach us about, and bring us to, those higher orders.

I highly encourage the reader to make “the holy order of God” and God’s “order” the focus of some intense, personal study and contemplation. A greater understanding of these things will enable us to become more capable participants in the accomplishment of God’s purposes—in terms of both this temporal existence and eternity.

 

The Holy Order of God—Part VI and a Half

It’s really too bad that Roman numerals don’t have decimals. :)

As I was wrapping up the last post, I had some thoughts that fit quite nicely in between that post and the next one, which will probably be the last one of this series.

I mentioned in the introductory post to this series that the phrase, “the holy order of God,” is found, in scripture, almost exclusively in Alma. However, the order itself is found all over scripture, if you know what to look for.

Case in point:

6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things. (Jacob 4)

Do you see “the holy order of God?” In what other passages of scripture can you see the holy order of God (even when certain key words are missing), what can you glean from those passages, and how might what you glean apply to your present and future circumstances?

Good things to think about. :)

The Holy Order of God—Part VI

If you want a very rewarding study of the scriptures, compare and contrast the sermon that Alma delivers in Zarahemla with the one that he delivers in Gideon. There are so many great nuggets of truth and understanding to be had in that exercise. Then go on and compare and contrast those sermons with the sermon that he delivers to the people in Ammonihah. Actually, don’t stop at analyzing the sermons. Analyze the entire experiences. There is a lot of contrast there. At the very least least, it’s a great study in approaches and tactics used in preaching the gospel that will necessarily differ when audiences are different.

Alma the Younger gives us a little kickstart to that exercise in his opening words to the people in Gideon:

1 Behold my beloved brethren, seeing that I have been permitted to come unto you, therefore I attempt to address you in my language; yea, by my own 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 judgment-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 given 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 dilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla.

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 idols, but that ye do worship the true and the living God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come. (Alma 7)

Alma sees differences between the people of Zarahemla and the people of Gideon, and those differences not only cause Alma to change his approach in teaching, but they also cause Alma to experience different levels of joy and sorrow as a result of their response.

While he still preaches repentance, his preaching has an entirely different flavor, and he says things in Gideon according to the spirit of revelation and the spirit of prophecy that he doesn’t say in Zarahemla.¹ Some of the things Alma teaches the people in Gideon are so great that they cannot be written (see Alma 8:1).

After a period of rest at his home in Zarahemla, Alma teaches “the people in the land of Melek according to the holy order of God.” (Alma 8:4) We are not given any portion of what the people were taught in that city, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that the reason for that is the diligence of the people there, evidenced by the fact that “the people came to him throughout all the borders of the land which was by the wilderness side.” (Alma 8:5)

Following his time in Melek, Alma travels to Ammonihah. His reception there is less than favorable, even after “… Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.” (Alma 8:10) The people cast him out of their city, and Alma starts to head toward the city of Aaron, but God has other plans. An angel is sent to command Alma to return to Ammonihah and preach that “…except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.” (Alma 8:16)

Upon returning to Ammonihah, Alma meets Amulek and is taken in by him. Alma explains to Amulek that he has “been called to preach the word of God among all this people, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy” and that, after being determined to leave Ammonihah, he had been commanded to “turn again and prophesy unto this people, yea, and to testify against them concerning their iniquities.” (Alma 8:24-25) The record says that Alma “tarried many days with Amulek” (Alma 8:27), while “the people did wax more gross in their iniquities.” (Alma 8:28) Through Alma, God calls Amulek to accompany Alma in preaching repentance.

And Alma went forth, and also Amulek, among the people, to declare the words of God unto them; and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. (Alma 8:30)

It is at this point that Mormon makes particular mention of another characteristic of those who are part of “the holy order of God.”

And they had power given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them; nevertheless they did not exercise their power until they were bound in bands and cast into prison. Now, this was done that the Lord might show forth his power in them. (Alma 8:31)

Now, Alma and Amulek preach and prophesy “according to the spirit and power which the Lord had given them.”

And it came to pass that they went forth and began to preach and to prophesy unto the people, according to the spirit and power which the Lord had given them. (Alma 8:32)

And if it wasn’t enough for Mormon to mention that fact in those two verses at the end of chapter 8, he interrupts the narrative to highlight it again before continuing the story in chapter 9:

The words of Alma, and also the words of Amulek, which were declared unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah. And also they are cast into prison, and delivered by the miraculous power of God which was in them, according to the record of Alma. (Preface to Alma 9)

This series of events should cause one to ponder on the role of “the miraculous power of God” in the preaching the gospel and on the circumstances that result in God giving that power to his servants. One could make a strong argument (and, here, I add my personal witness) that God gives this power to his servants as they encounter rejection and resistance from those to whom they are called to preach repentance. Alma and Amulek’s later experiences in the city of Ammonihah demonstrate that, being filled with the Holy Ghost, his servants know when and in what circumstances to use this power for the furthering of God’s purposes.

The Holy Order of God—Part V

While studying the topic of “the holy order of God,” the Lord gave me a visual representation of what I was learning.

He showed me a set of matryoshka dolls. Most people don’t know them by that name. Most people call them “Russian nesting dolls” or “tea dolls.” He showed me how progress through his “orders” can be represented by those dolls.

When you have a set of those dolls that is completely taken apart and disordered, there is only one way in which the pieces can be brought together and ordered to form a complete whole. You start with the smallest, singular doll, you encase that doll with the two pieces of the doll of the next larger size, and you repeat until you make the largest doll possible.

The smallest singular doll is like someone in their natural, fallen, sinful condition. When a person is in this state, that person is not part of God’s order¹.

When someone repents, it is like that person is encased in the doll of the next larger size. They “level up.” A change is wrought in their heart. Not only are they forgiven of their past sins, but they also become a new creature in Christ, with “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” (Mosiah 5:2) Steadfast continuance in this state results in a perpetual state of sinlessness because that person yields to the word of the Lord in all situations and circumstances.

This state of sinlessness allows the Spirit of the Lord to flow more abundantly to individuals who have attained it. As they seek to know the Lord better, they are endowed with greater measures of his Spirit, which gives light and understanding—new information, to which an individual in this state must continuously conform.

It is inevitable that individuals who progress in this state will be called out of this one and into another. Having received information through the Spirit, and having completely conformed their lives to the information they have received, they qualify, and are called, to teach others who have not yet done so to do the same. Those who accept that call “level up” again. It is as if they are encased by the doll of the next larger size.

Individuals in this next state preach true repentance. The Lord only calls individuals who have practiced true repentance to this state—this “order”² —because anyone who has not truly repented would be a hypocrite in preaching the principle. Not having experienced that “mighty change,” they wouldn’t know what it is like and, therefore, could not teach it to others. This is one of the reasons why Jesus was so vocal in calling the Pharisees out on their hypocrisy:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

Alma calls this “order”—this class of individuals—“the holy order of God.” They are distinguished from those who “walk after the holy order of God.” (Alma 5:54, Alma 7:22) Those who “walk after the holy order of God” are those who believe in the words of those who belong to “the holy order of God.” They are those who actually repent and who continue in God’s word. They are part of “the order of God,” but they are not part of “the holy order of God” because they have not yet qualified themselves to testify according to the spirit of revelation and the spirit of prophecy.

The Holy Order of God—Part IV

Let’s get back on topic.

I’m going to jump around in the book of Alma a little bit in order to point out three specific characteristics of those who belong to “the holy order of God.” Mormon first makes an initially obvious mention of these three characteristics at the end of chapter 4:

And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy. (Alma 4)

The testimony of the word, the spirit of revelation, and the spirit of prophecy—three characteristics of this order that are repeatedly mentioned by both Alma the Younger and Mormon, though they’re not quite as obvious when mentioned later. These characteristics work interdependently, and all three will always be found working the same way in any individual belonging to this order.

Individuals who belong to this order are called—commanded, actually—to testify:

43 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should hear me, for I speak in the energy of my soul; for behold, I have spoken unto you plainly that ye cannot err, or have spoken according to the commandments of God.

44 For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come. (Alma 5)

We see this call and command coming to Alma with some more specificity when an angel tells Alma to return to Ammonihah to preach repentance to the people in that city and when the word of the Lord directs Alma to take Amulek with him:

14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.

16 And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them. Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.

25 But behold, I have been commanded that I should turn again and prophesy unto this people, yea, and to testify against them concerning their iniquities.

29 And the word came to Alma, saying: Go; and also say unto my servant Amulek, go forth and prophesy unto this people, saying—Repent ye, for thus saith the Lord, except ye repent I will visit this people in mine anger; yea, and I will not turn my fierce anger away. (Alma 8)

1 And again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that I should take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this people, or the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me, saying: (Alma 9)

Of what do they testify?

45 For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come.

Sounds a lot like prophecy, doesn’t it? But of what things, specifically, do people who belong to this “order” testify? This is important because…well, I think that most people expect someone who has the spirit of prophecy to come along making fantastic claims about every little detail of the future. I mean, so many people have itching ears, you know? They want to hear all about the minutia of the future, so that’s what they look for. And, just to be clear, members of this “order” have been known to accurately foretell events that later came to pass. They can, and sometimes do, make many prophecies. But I find it fascinating (and very disheartening, quite honestly) that, most of the time, people completely miss these individuals because they dismiss the most important prophecy that all members of “the holy order of God” are called to declare to the people.

Members of this “order” preach repentance. Like, actual repentance. Not some watered-down version of repentance where all you have to do to repent is profess a belief that Christ has “saved” you or one where you “try your best” to stop sinning but you actually don’t.

True repentance requires you to live in a state of sinlessness, and for more information on how to reach and maintain that state, I will, once again, recommend the book, “Repentance: Making Straight the Way of God.” Actually, I highly recommend both the book and the state. Both are very good. :)

Why do they preach repentance? What does repentance have to do with prophecy? Well, they actually go hand-in-hand.

Members of “the holy order of God” preach repentance because they can accurately predict what will happen if people do not repent. They preach against sinfulness and wickedness because, without repentance, those things will inevitably be testified of at some point:

22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

23 Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness? (Alma 5)

In order to correctly preach repentance, members of “the holy order of God” also testify of Christ, through whom a state of redemption and sinlessness is made possible:

48 I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name. (Alma 5)

How was Alma able to testify of Christ? How did he know of these things himself?

45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me. (Alma 5)

This knowledge of Christ’s coming was not a result of his previous repentance. Verse 46 tells us that this knowledge came “by the Holy Spirit of God” as a result of his fasting and prayer. To have the spirit of revelation is to have the Lord manifest things to us so that we know of ourselves that certain things are true, and members of “the holy order of God” will always have this spirit because it is what enables them to testify.

Alma corroborates all prior prophecy regarding these things because he has had these things revealed to him, directly, through the Spirit of the Lord:

And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God. (Alma 5:47)

I think that I will stop discussing these characteristics here for now. I need to move on to the next post. Even though this post has focused on Alma 5, testimony, the spirit of revelation, and the spirit of prophecy are mentioned plainly in other chapters of the book of Alma and not-so-plainly all throughout scripture. I’ll leave it to the reader to get some extra credit by studying these things further, independently. 

Technical Difficulties

What an exquisitely beautiful morning this has been!

I intended to put up another post in “The Holy Order of God” series this morning, but the Lord took me down another path, and I am so overcome with his Spirit that I just can’t.

He is so good! Words cannot express it!

I don’t think that I have ever found myself so frustrated with my inability to express to others all of the love and joy I feel for everything that God has taught and shown me. And yet, the fact that he gives me the capacity to feel that love and joy only increases what I feel in the first place, and then it feels limitless and unbounded.

One time, in a dream, the Lord showed to me what I can only describe as an “unbounded sepulcher.” It was so full of things that can only be described in the spirit that I won’t make a pathetic attempt to describe it here.

But there is opposition in all things, and God has shown me the eternal life and limitless joy that is the opposite of that sepulcher, and I cannot praise him enough! [1] I find my own mortality to be a source of “technical difficulties” that prevent me from communicating to others what God has shown me in immortal realms. But the fact that I know that that love and joy exists—that I feel it myself and that I can see it (or at least glimpses of it) in other people and things—fills my heart to overflowing.

Were you to see even a fraction of what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do to bring about his righteous purposes, you would drop to your knees in humble gratitude and then get up and actively praise him forever for his goodness.

Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)

[1]-I’ve used that expression before, and the fact that I am using it again only emphasizes the whole point of this post. 

 

The Holy Order of God—Intermission

Ok, so, this might not be so short. :)

Even though I called this post an “intermission,” it is, absolutely, the most important post in this series. As I said in my last post, repentance is what differentiates those who belong to an “order of God” from those who don’t, so if we want to be part of God’s “order,” at all, we need to correctly understand and apply repentance. The topic is foundational because you cannot even begin to comprehend “the holy order of God,” let alone be part of it, without, first, repenting.

And before I go any further, I’m just going to say that, if you are interested in the topic of repentance (and you should be), you really should read the book, “Repentance: Making Straight the Way of God” by Robert Smith, which can be found in print form (sold at cost) here, as a free ebook here, and as an audiobook playlist here. You will not find a better or easier-to-understand treatise on the topic, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. What God has made available in that book should be considered required reading for anyone who desires honest improvement in their lives. That is, when it comes right down to it, what repentance is.

Repentance is a “turning towards God,” who is the source of everything that is good and true. In turning towards him, repentance is also a turning away from everything that is not of him. It is receiving everything that is of him and rejecting everything else. It is a complete forsaking of everything about yourself that you understand to be unlike him. Most people assume that those things are external—things that you do or don’t do. However, repentance is actually something that is deeply internal. It is a refining of the ideas you have and of the desires you have. While it manifests itself in the physical world, repentance is a spiritual principle, and its primary operations are in the spiritual realm.

Sincere and heartfelt repentance is difficult to describe because it’s not something you see directly with your physical eyes, so Alma (like many others) employs other themes often used in scripture to give us a better idea about what repentance “looks like”—themes like freedom from captivity, a mighty change of heart, awakening out of a deep sleep, coming out of mists of darkness into light, singing a song of redeeming love after being racked with guilt, and being born again.

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

8 And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.

9 And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved. (Alma 5)

It is a fruitful exercise to ponder deeply on these analogies and then to ask yourself if your own repentance experience can be accurately described using the same language.

Alma gets you started: 

And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? (Alma 5:14)

This verse kicks off a series of questions that Alma asks his audience. Verse 14 and verse 19 act as bookends, with Alma posing and then revisiting the question about having received the image of God in one’s countenance.

I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? (Alma 5:19)

Seems like “having the image of God engraved upon your [countenance]” is a pretty important thing. What, exactly, would that look like? 

In the verses in between, Alma asks his audience how they might “imagine” a future encounter with God based on whether or not they lived and acted according to their honest understanding:

15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?

18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? (Alma 5)

An encounter like the one described in verse 16 cannot happen so long as we are turned away from God in any way:

I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil? (Alma 5:20)

A future encounter like the one described in verse 16 only happens if we repent, forsake our sins, and then maintain a state of sinlessness, all of which is enabled through Christ. 

21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

Anything less than having our garments “purified until they are cleansed from all stain” is less than what we are meant to attain and will stand as a witness against us: 

22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

23 Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness? (Alma 5)

Having one’s garments testify of “murders” and “all manner of wickedness,” one cannot reasonably expect a future encounter like the one described in verse 16. It would violate the truth and justice of God:

24 Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white?

25 I say unto you, Nay; except ye make our Creator a liar from the beginning, or suppose that he is a liar from the beginning, ye cannot suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of heaven; but they shall be cast out for they are the children of the kingdom of the devil. (Alma 5) 

Verses 26 and 27 are some of my favorites in all of scripture: 

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? (Alma 5)

This might seem to be a bit of a tangent, but I just love these scriptures so much! Alma ties past, present, and future up so nicely in these verses (and in other sermons, too), which is so appropriate because the gospel of Jesus Christ transcends time. Through our present repentance, we can obtain forgiveness of our past sins, continue in sinlessness through our continued obedience to whatever God presently tells us as we grow in our association with him, and look forward in hope to a glorious future.

Alma then preaches against pride, envy, and mockery, and that’s all I’ll take the time to say about verses 28-31. I’m going to skip over those verses for now. But I will say that you should look up the definitions for those words and then ask yourself why Alma makes particular mention of them in addressing the people in Zarahemla. It very much ties into the whole idea of “the holy order of God.”

Zooming out from those three specific sins, Alma extends the invitation to repent to “all…workers of iniquity”:

32 Yea, even wo unto all ye workers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord God hath spoken it!

33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

34 Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;

35 Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire—

36 For behold, the time is at hand that whosoever bringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn. (Alma 5)

Such a beautiful invitation! Such beautiful promises made to those who accept it. We are invited to partake of his love and to incorporate into ourselves all of the truth and light that he has to give to us so that we can “bring forth works of righteousness,” which is exactly what he does, is it not? Those who do not accept this invitation “have cause to wail and mourn” because they will never have the joy they could have had in doing so. So many people see God’s invitation to repent as a scare tactic, but it isn’t. It’s an invitation to experience joy!

Alma alludes to this joy and entices unrepentant individuals to partake of it by employing the imagery of a good shepherd and his sheep. He explains that spiritual death—“being dead unto all good works”—is not some arbitrary punishment that God decides to inflict upon us. Those “wages” are simply the natural consequence of turning away from the voice of the good shepherd and of listening to the voice of the devil: 

37 O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!

38 Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.

39 And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil.

40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.

41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.

42 And whosoever doeth this must receive his wages of him; therefore, for his wages he receiveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works. (Alma 5)

I’m going to skip verses 43-56, too. Those will be discussed after intermission. ;)

Diving back in at verse 57, Alma gives the “good sheep” some counsel and makes some closing remarks before he makes his final appeals (by way of command and by way of invitation) to the people to repent:

57 And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people;

58 For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand. And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this? I say unto you, if ye speak against it, it matters not, for the word of God must be fulfilled.

59 For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him.

60 And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.

61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

62 I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life.