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.