Alma was called
by God to serve as a prophet to the people of the Nephites not long before the
coming of the Messiah. Several years prior
to this time, Alma had gone about fighting against the church of God and trying
to destroy it. Through the power of Holy
Spirit, God revealed to Alma that this church was His church and instructed him
to stop seeking to destroy it. Alma
heeded the word of God and became an excellent example of faith among the
Nephites. His faith became so firm that
the Lord could trust him as prophet.
Because Alma
mistakenly fought against God in his early life, he had an opportunity to
witness firsthand the merciful love of our Heavenly Father. He personally endured the difficulty of repentance
and felt the bountiful joy that comes from receiving forgiveness and mercy
through the Atonement of Jesus the Messiah.
His experiences taught him just how vital faith is to the salvation of
men. He knew faith provides us strength
to overcome the difficulties of repentance.
He knew faith provides us with the ability to endure the ridicule and
scorn of friends, family, and colleagues in order to choose the will of
God. And he knew faith in Jesus Christ
is the only way to obtain the eternal life promised to the faithful Disciples
of Christ.
Alma wanted
others to experience the precious joy that comes through repentance, just as he
had. So he devoted most of his time to
teaching others about faith in the Son of God.
For this reason, Alma, along with several other men in his time, served
missions among the people of the Nephites to teach them the word of God and
exhort them to repentance and salvation.
One of these missions brought him to the city of the Zoramites.
Corruption of the
laws of God reigned among the Zoramites.
Many among the people worshipped false gods. Pride and envy ruled among the people. The poor were disdained instead of
helped. In fact, the poor had been cast
out of their places of worship and were not allowed to worship God. Alma was troubled by the wickedness of the people
of the Zoramites. He wanted to bring the
people back to the one true God and started teaching different groups of people
within the city. He would teach them in
synagogues, homes, and the streets—anywhere he could gain an audience.
While he was
instructing one group of people, Alma was approached by many of the poor people
in the city. They were poor in spirits
because they weren’t allowed to worship God in the synagogues of the city which
they had labored to build. The
scriptures leave the impression these people mistakenly thought they could only
worship their God in these synagogues.
Alma rejoiced to
see this group of people because he knew their circumstances had prepared them
to receive the messages of God. They
were prepared to accept the true gospel of Jesus Christ, repent, and come unto
Him. So Alma gave them a lesson about
faith. Chapter 32 of Alma contains that
lesson. I would like to spend a little
time discussing what Alma teaches and shall begin next week.
In the meantime
there is an excellent lesson to be learned from Alma’s personal
experience. Alma demonstrates that faith
brings us true joy through repentance.
Jesus Christ is the center of that joy.
It is through Him, and He alone, that we can find the peace and
happiness that comes when we repent.
I exhort you to
come to know Jesus Christ. Study the
scriptures that speak so abundantly of Him.
Search for opportunities to worship Him through prayer, fasting, and
service. Seek the joy that comes from
repenting of our sins, mistakes, and weaknesses. If you do, you will experience the eternal
joy that Alma experienced.
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