Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast - Alma 32-35 Part 2 • Dr. S. Michael Wilcox • July 22-28 • Come Follow Me

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Dr. Wilcox continues to explore the blessings of repentance, the immediacy of forgiveness, and the power of the Book of Mormon in helping the Saints understand Jesus Christ's love.TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM30ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM30FRPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM30PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM30ES YOUTUBEhttps://youtu.be/VPi4wzvD8JEALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastTIMECODE00:00 Part II– Dr. Michael Wilcox02:05 Praying away your enemies06:16 Alma 33:12-19 The immediacy of Jesus09:17 Alma 33:21 Why the Israelites won’t look to Jesus12:05 D&C 19:23 - Look, learn, listen, and walk14:42 The need for forgiveness16:28 Alma 33 - Jesus redeems and we are His19:36 The three greats24:17 Alma 34:10-11 Jesus’s Atonement meant to unify28:52 What is an infinite Atonement of Jesus?32:46 The Brothers Karamazov 35:56 The Come, Follow Me manual41:25 Alma 34:28-29 - Being charitable45:45 Sister Anette Dennis and “to cover”48:07 The Lord forgives immediately54:35 Psalms 30:5 - Joy comes in the morning56:20 - How do we prepare to meet God?59:16 Alma 34:39-40 - What do we offer the Lord?1:01:52 Alma 34:41 - Rest in the Lord1:02:43 Dr. Wilcox’s testimony of Jesus and the Book of Mormon1:11:42 End of Part II– Dr. Michael WilcoxThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Welcome to part two with Dr. S. Michael Wilcox, Alma 32 through 35. I start in 33 and I'm looking for keywords and ideas. Let me go to verse one where they ask the question. How they should plant the seed? See they're saying, look, get out of the metaphorical world for a second here. Now would you get into the real world how do I plant the seed of the word that you've spoken or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith how do I experiment how do I plant how do I exercise give me the specifics he begins with prayer that's one of the

things I'm digging the hole when I pray. I'm just gonna do the same thing verse 3. Remember you have read what Zennis the prophet of old said concerning prayer worship. You think you have to be in the ramiamton, but you worship a merciful God, though art merciful, you have heard my prayer, where? Nice thing I like about this and Amulek's prayer is, it's the suggestion. One of the ways you plant the seed is you make God a friend. You make him a father. You talk to him all the time.

And we do do that. you're driving home you're walking he is a companion and he hears you in the wilderness that's verse 4 he's giving different places in different contexts but the totality of both Alma and Amulek's teachings of prayer is you don't have to do it on the rambiamtham one time a week. You do it all the time everywhere on every subject or issue that you need to. That's the message because that kind of relationship with God, he's my father, he's my friend. I talk to him about whatever I need to talk to him about. I talk to him whenever I want to.

A great French philosopher Pascal said, God gave us prayer so that we would have the dignity of a casual relationship with God. So I talked to him in my wilderness. He said, I pray concerning those who were mine enemies. I really liked this prayer about his enemies. He's gonna give another one at the end of it. That's almost the opposite.

I prayed about my enemies and thou didst turn them to me. They weren't my enemies anymore. That's a good prayer. Oh God, thou was merciful when I did cry unto thee in my field. And when I did cry unto thee in my field. When I did cry unto thee in my prayer, thou didst hear me. When I did turn to my house, thou didst hear me in my prayer. When I did turn into my closet, closet, it's an old English word, it means bedroom. It doesn't mean where you hang your clothes.

If you want it to be where you hang your clothes. If you want it to be where you hang your clothes, he would hear you there too. And I prayed thou didst hear me, yea thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them wherever, whenever, upon whatever subject. That's one of the ways you plant the seed you gain that relationship you heard my cries in the midst of my congregations I was walking down the street and I talked to you don't you do that I talked to him all the time but my mother taught me that. You can talk to your Father in heaven anywhere, anytime, on any subject that you need.

I can get upset with him sometimes, and his dignity somehow can handle my wondering who's running the world and how it's being run. Verse 10, Thou hast heard me, when I was cast out, and despised by mine enemies." Maybe he quotes that because that's the situation of the Zoramites. They've been cast out of the synagogue. Maybe that's why he chooses this particular passage. "'Thou didst hear my cries and was angry with mine enemies, and didst visit them in that angry speedy destruction.'" I like what happens with the enemies in verse 4 better than what happens with the enemies

in verse 10, right? Verse 4, he turns them to me, here they're wiped out. 11, thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity, and because of thy son thou hast been thus merciful unto me therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions for in thee is my joy thou has turned thy judgments away from me because of thy son." Which is the seed he wants to plant. He's quoting that for a number of reasons. In answer to

the Zoramites questions, how do I plant this? What do I do? Could you get practical? And the answer is you talk to God all times about all things everywhere. That's one of the ways we plant the seed and we begin to feel the mercy. Verse 12, what's the second idea he's going to give us? Well, I plant the seed by studying, reading the scriptures. Now the problem is that we say these things so often that we get repetition fatigue. It's almost like we say, I know what they're going to say, say your prayers, read your scriptures, go to church. That's why I like to say, talk to God anywhere all the time about all things

and search the scriptures. There you're gonna find Jesus in them. I'm gonna give you three words in just a second. Then he goes to Zenos, verse 14. Now behold, my my brethren I would ask if you have read the scriptures if you have how can you? Disbelieve on the Son of God. I love the way says it if you read the Gospels How can you not love him? I don't know how somebody can read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and not love Jesus.

I don't know how you can read 3rd Nephi and not love him. We're going to see when we get to what I call the immediacy of Jesus. You're going to pray and you're going to read the scriptures, but in the scriptures you are particularly looking for the personality, the character, the attributes of I would say the father and the son and his mercy. It's his mercy that Alma really wants us to understand and then he gives us an example out of the scriptures. And I would call this the third thing in Alma 33 that Alma tells us to do in order to plant the seed, the practical things. I pray all times

everywhere about all things. I look for Jesus. I read the scriptures and the key word now in verses 19, really through the end of chapter 33, which is a shorter chapter, is look. So the third thing I'm going to do is I'm going to look, and I'm looking for Christ. And he gives the story of Moses in the wilderness and he holds up the bronze serpent and he says, now you start looking for the looks, in verse 19 there's two of them whoever would look upon it might live, and many did look and live

few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts but there were many who were so hardened they would not look therefore they perished. He gives us two reasons why they wouldn't look why won't I look for the Savior in the scriptures in my life in conference in the book of more whatever now the reason they would know if they did not believe it would heal them I don't know how knowing about the life of Jesus is gonna solve my problems and then you think about

your problems and that's what some people say I just don't believe now if you put yourself in the scriptures which I think we ought to always do, let's say you've been bitten by the serpents there with Moses and he makes the bronze serpent, holds it up and says, this will heal you, you just have to look. And you say, I don't believe it. And 20 of your neighbors go and they look and they come back healed and they say, look, it's going to work. I'm telling you it works. You will find in the life of the Savior healing, understanding for whatever comes to you. In this case, it's healing. It's healing that that they're looking for. The second reason they don't look is

verse 21. If you could be healed by merely casting your eyes about, he's putting them in the story. That you might be healed, would you not behold quickly? If I would say, well, if I were there, I would have gone, I would have crawled up to the tabernacle to at least see what have I got to lose? My life! Or would you harden your hearts and beyond belief and be slothful that you would not cast about your eyes, that you would perish. What are the two reasons people don't

look, they don't believe and they're too lazy. I don't believe it, I'm not interested, takes too much effort. If so woe shall come upon you but if not so then cast about your eyes. Look at all those casts about your eyes. Behold, look, look, look. That's the key idea here is look. John starts the Gospel in John 1 with some of the first words Jesus ever speaks in the Gospel of John. The very first words are, what seek ye, which is a pretty good question. And they say we want to know where you live and then he gives what I call the invitation. And he gives it to all of us. He says, come and see. And all through

the Gospel of John you're being invited to look at him. Pilate at the last very end says, behold the man. See I'm looking at him. The woman at the well of John, you're being invited to look at him. Pilate at the last very end says, behold the man. See, I'm looking at him. The woman at the well in John, come see a man that told me everything I did. You are healing of the blind man. You are constantly being invited and Alma is doing that over and over again.

Look, look, look, look. Cast your eyes about, behold, cast your eyes about, don't be slothful, don't disbelieve, he is merciful, he will heal you, John's four words, he will redeem, atone, resurrect and judge you, I want you to plant that in your heart. Have in the New Testament the invitation, come and see. In the Doctrine and Covenants, I call them the three L's, I put them together. One's in section six, beautiful thing. At the very end of section six, he says, fear not little flock, do good. He says, fear not little flock, do good. I don't condemn you, go your ways, sin no more, perform the work with soberness, and then the invitation.

Look unto me in every thought. Doubt not, fear not. That's another place where I say, boy you hit the nail on the head Joseph with that one right there. Look unto me in every thought, all day, anywhere, whenever you need. And then I go to section 19, and I get my other two NLs in verse 23. Learn of me. Listen to my words, and then do something. Look, learn, listen, and then walk in the meekness of my spirit and you will have peace.

So all my life long, I'm looking, learning, and listening in every thought. I come home from work, I'm tired, I'm a little impatient and I got my kids want to play. And the Lord says, Mike, let me heal you. You're a little sick right here. You just want to go and read the newspaper. Look unto me in that thought. Learn of me. Listen to my words. Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of

heaven. Now walk as I did. Now what do I do? I put the paper down and I play with the kids. You have a commandment that you can't keep, or it's hard, it's difficult. And the Savior says, look unto me in that thought, learn of me, listen to my words. Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

Now walk as I walked. You're having trouble forgiving somebody and the Savior says look unto me in that thought. Learn of me. Listen to my words. Father forgive them for they know not what they do. It doesn't matter what thing is happening in our life, what challenge, what joy, what fear. Alma's words, Jesus's words, Alma's look, cast your eyes, Jesus's come and see, the Doctrine and Covenants, look, learn, listen. He's always giving us that invitation. Look, look, look, learn, listen, and you will find an answer in my life that will heal everything you need healed, that will fulfill everything you need fulfilled, that will bring you any kind of peace or any kind of joy you want.

Believe it, because other people around are going to tell you that's what's going to happen to you. Don't be unbelieving, don't be apathetic, don't be slothful, don't be lazy, too lazy to do it. Look and learn and listen and come and see and I think that's what he's doing here in the context of what he's doing here. And when you get into 34, what is it that I need most from him? I need forgiveness. I need mercy. I do need answers. I need peace.

But the greatest peace and forgiveness that he wants to give us is let me take your shame away. Let me take your guilt away. Let me take your sorrows away. Let me take your shame away. Let me take your guilt away. Let me take your sorrows away. Let me take your regrets away. I can do that. But you have to look. I love how specifically Alma and Amulek tailor their remarks based on what they heard in the prayer. It's so good because they don't say it but we all see it. Oh, according to the Ramiamton philosophy, you say the same prayer, you say it in the same place, and then you go home and never speak of God again until you come back. And it's fun to see how they address things and coming up in 34 You have elected us to be saved while all else are thrust by thy wrath down to hell for which holiness

Oh God, we thank thee But Alma 34 is actually he doesn't save arbitrarily this group and damn this group He atones and he's willing to forgive. That's what you're saying Alma 34 is going to be. Final thought in 33, the word redeem, we like the word atone and atonement. We can look at that word in just a second. 22 he says he will come to redeem his people. Redeem means to regain possession in exchange for a payment. He's going to redeem us. It's a financial. Like to buy them back. Yeah. The Savior uses different metaphors to say what He did for us. He's a lawyer who pleads for us. He's a physician who heals us. He's the banker who pays the redemption, the price. But I like that regain possession in exchange for a payment.

Now we know what the payment was. It's what he called his hour. His whole life I think he was doing that. And there is a question we ask each other certainly husbands and wives do and Jesus's relation often in the Old Testament in particular but also in the news is that he's the bridegroom and we're the bride just before I proposed to Laurie the day before I was at her house and you know, I was so in love with this girl. The first time I saw her, my heart just went out of me.

I could never call it back. We dated for a while. We were up here visiting her parents and I was sitting in the chair alone and she walked in the room and I pulled her onto my lap. Hoping her father wouldn't see. And I asked her a three-word question, are you mine? Now that's a question a bridegroom asks his bride often isn't it?

She's gone now I can't ask her but I do still I look to heaven and say, Larry are you? but I do still I look to heaven and say, Lari are you are you still mine? Now the word redeemed suggests that you gain possession in exchange for a payment and sometimes I think I can hear the Savior say to us, are you still mine? Are you still mine? What answer do I want, Adelari? I will always be yours. What answer does Jesus want out of us as his role as a redeemer who's paid a price for us to be his? I think he often asks us in the poignancy of the bridegroom, are you mine? Are you still mine? And we want to always answer, I will always be yours Lord. I will always be yours because I understand

the price that you paid for us. We can get into 34. Amulek is doing a similar thing. He has what I call the three greats. He refers to preparing yourself again. Verse 3 at the bottom, I will go a little faster here, prepare your minds. Remember humility prepares the mind. Your afflictions prepared you. So he's reminding us some things that Alma did back in 32. He uses the word experiment again in verse four and the word goodness. Amulek's been listening. He brings it back, prepare your minds.

You've tried the experiment, you wanna know if it's goodness. Now you have a question. So now here's the first of the three greats in Alma 34. Verse five, we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God or whether there shall be no Christ. The great question for all of our lives has to do with our relationship and our belief in the Son of God. That's the great question. That's the great question. He says we've got three witnesses that he is.

Actually four. My brother Alma has testified that the Word is in Christ. That's one witness. Zenos is two witness that redemption comes. Zenoch is three. Moses is four. Why not five? The fifth witness is redemption comes. Zenneke is three, Moses is four, why not five? The fifth witness is in verse 8, Amulek gives his own now. I will testify. Alma,

Zenneth, Zenneke, Moses, meaning the bronze serpent where you look to be healed and I do because Amulek might say just like Alma I used to be like you I needed forgiveness I needed healing the second grade is in verse 9 it's the great plan what's the great plan of the eternal God it's an atonement now we have changed the word atonement here it's an atonement. Now we have changed the word atonement here it's an atonement you know it's a verb back in chapter 33 verse 22 he shall suffer and die to atone that's a verb here it's a noun an atonement should be made according to the great plan the great plan is the answer to the great question.

The great question. The great plan is an atonement must be made. Now we've changed it to the atonement. Atonement, it comes from a Latin word ad dunamentum. It means to unite or to bring unity. What is the atonement? It comes from that at one. It was never used until the 16th century. William Tyndale is the one who makes atonement a religious word

because it's used in the 16th century. I could make an atonement between two friends. We don't use it that much anymore. It's a word that certainly for LDS people that belongs to Jesus. And we've made it the thing that he did instead of the consequence of what he did. I've pondered that quite a bit. I'll hit it again a little bit here in just a second. Originally, atonement meant to unify. We're going to be one with God, one with Jesus, one with each other. And his whole life he was doing that. He was trying to bring an atonement to make us one with God. That's the great plan of God. The

answer to the great question and how was this unifying us with God and Jesus and one another going to be done. Verse 10 the third great by a great and last sacrifice. The answer to the great question is the great plan. The great plan depends on the great sacrifice. And that sacrifice, now we come to a really important word in 10. So let's go there. It is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice. In not a sacrifice of man, neither of beasts, neither of any man or of fowl, it shall not be a human sacrifice, but it must be an infinite and an eternal

sacrifice. Verse 11, Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood, which will atone for the sins of another. The man murders will our law, which is just take the life of his brother. I say unto you, nay, that will be an unjust act. How can justice be satisfied with an unjust act? But the law require the life of him that murdereth. Therefore, there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world." And you're going to see that word again, you see it again in verse 14. This is the whole meaning of the law, every wit pointing to that great and last sacrifice. And that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.

So one of the things I love about Amulek, I say the two big words for me in Amulek are the infinite nature of Christ's mercy, and we'll get to the immediacy of His mercy, infinite. Does that mean infinite in time? Does it mean infinite in space? Does it mean infinite in number? I ponder this a lot. Infinite by definition, if you go online or dictionary, Oxford dictionary, you're going to see these words. Think of it in terms of Christ's mercy. Unlimited or unmeasurable in extent of space or time. time, unbounded, endless, extending indefinitely, inexhaustible. Now if I think of the atonement as something that happened in Gethsemane, which is okay to think, if I think of the atonement as something that happened at a specific time and place,

part of my brain says, I've made it finite. I don't want it to be finite, it has to be infinite. Meaning, right now, as you and I talk, the mercy of Christ is doing what the mercy of Christ does. It is infinite. It is infinite in space and time and number. As I try and apply it to myself, I might say it this way. I actually prayed this before I got here this morning. Lord I know you told Peter that we forgive 70 times 7 but that's a very small number because your mercy is infinite and that's a large much larger number than 70 times 7 and I don't know about your life but a 7 times 70 is not enough for me it's not enough

what do I need I need an infinite atonement. He will always forgive again and again and again and again and again. He is always forgiving. Then I go to Gethsemane, I say, then what happened in Gethsemane? What is this? You know, Alma 5, you've already talked about it, where he says he had to come to earth and undergo afflictions and sickness and death and so he would know how to succor his people. I think his whole life was his atonement. I ask the question this way, did Gethsemane create in Jesus? Did his life living here on earth and before this earth did Gethsemane give Jesus infinite mercy did it create something in him so that he could forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive the atonement is not something that he did but it is something that was created in him so

that his mercy would never end. I don't know if I'm explaining this well enough because I'm pondering think it through a lot. In order for it to be infinite it has to keep going. You know there's that wonderful moment in Moses 7 with Enoch when he sees God weeping and I love that I love Moses and he sees him weeping over the sins of the world and it's the father he's looking at and the father says I'm gonna send the son and then Enoch understands the heart and the mind of God and in verse 41 it says It came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men wherefore Enoch knew and looked upon their wickedness and their misery and wept and

stretched forth his arms and his heart swelled wide as eternity and his bowels yearned and all eternity shook. Shook means to overflow. That's the greatest verse in all scripture to understand Jesus. To understand Gethsemane and the atonement and his whole life. If we read it, and it came to pass that the Father spake unto the Son and told the Son all the doings of the children of men all the doings of Michael Wilcox wherefore Jesus knew and looked upon their wickedness, their failings, their humanity, and their sadness and misery and guilt and shame,

and wept over them. And he stretched forth his arms, literally on the cross, and his heart swelled wide as eternity. And his bowels yearned for us, and all eternity overflowed with his mercy, his compassion, his forgiveness. That's there, it's still there. That's what it means an infinite atonement. He still weeps. He's still in Gethsemane in that sense. I don't want him to suffer forever, but as long as you look at humanity and love them, he is going to weep. Something happened in his existence life, pre-mortal, post-mortal, but probably a lot of it, according to the Book of Mormon and himself, something that happened in his life and in his hour that created, I believe, empathy. I can't

come up with a word strong enough, infinite empathy, that will enable him to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive each of us all the time an infinite atonement goes on. It's a powerful word. Amulic is helping us understand the unlimited, going back to my definition, unlimited or unmeasurable in extent of space or time, I would add, or number of individuals and number of things they do. So that unbounded, endless, it wasn't something that happened in Gethsemane, okay it's done now and we all get to cash into the Atonement. It was the creation of a heart that stretches wide as eternity. It's a creation of a mind, of a soul, just like his fathers,

that can forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive. And we'll go on doing it for all eternity, for every world he ever creates, for any soul who ever asks for it, whoever asks for it because the heart was created. Our goal in life, what we want to do somehow in life and in our existence is get there too. There's a beautiful moment in the Brothers Karamazov where Alyosha Karamazov comes to understand the mercy of Christ. He goes out and throws himself on the earth and weeps and loves the earth and loves every being on the earth and he feels the light of all the stars coalescing in his soul, filling it with love and compassion and empathy and mercy and he prays for forgiveness.

Now when you and I pray for forgiveness, probably not you, you're better people than me, but when I pray for forgiveness, who am I thinking about? I'm usually thinking about me, forgive me Lord, but in Alyosha's dream Dostoevsky says he prayed for forgiveness oh not for himself but for all creatures for all creation he prayed believing that they would be praying for him so somehow one day in our existence, you and I wanna get there. We wanna get to the point where

something is created in our hearts that was created in Christ's heart that exists in the Father's heart that allows one to infinitely bring atonement, infinitely bring forgiveness, compassion, understanding that flows over the edges of the universe because the universe isn't big enough to hold it all. It shakes with it. It pours out. It

yearns. I love the infinite sense of atonement as not happening once but happening all the time forever. I want it. I want the heart of Jesus. I'm not there, but we want it. Thank you so much. The idea of the atonement being an event or series of an event, I mean, we can point to those few days, but the outcome, the effect is, as you said, infinite, is still happening. He's still weeping. One of the things that I heard you say once, I don't remember where, have you ever noticed that whenever someone in the Book of Mormon asks for forgiveness, they get it? Yeah, we're going there right now. That's what I call the immediacy of Christ's

atoning grace and forgiveness There's a portion of the manual that I wanted to read that ties into what you just said John It's under the Alma 34 heading. It says even when we know Jesus's power to save is infinite and eternal It says, even when we know Jesus' power to save is infinite and eternal, we might sometimes doubt that it applies to us or to someone who has sinned against us. Elder Bednar once spoke of people who seem to have faith in the Savior but they do not believe His promised blessings are available to them. And then this question, what might keep us from fully receiving the Savior's power? That fits really well, that somehow everyone else's sins can be forgiven, but I'm some

sort of special sinner that's outside of the realms of infinite somehow. Yeah. You know, he uses a phrase, if we go back to our idea of, okay, practically what do I do? Well, I look at the Savior and the more I look and understand about Him, the more I begin to understand the infinite nature of His mercy. And that gives me, in verse 15, he says, faith under repentance. For me, it will work, you know, in response to your comment. If I understand the infinite nature, now I have faith in Him that I can do it. I'm included.

And then this beautiful phrase, thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, but I like the second phrase better satisfy justice. That's the legal metaphor. I like this one and in circles them in the arms of safety. Now that's not somebody pleading at the bar for me. That's somebody holding me in his arms. That's mom, that's dad, this is my big brother who wraps his arms around you and keeps you safe. Isn't it? We all know that feeling, don't we? To have somebody just hold you. It's a beautiful image, encircles them in the arms of safety. Then he repeats that

faith under repentance. Again, he repeats it two more times in that 16th verse. I'm in the arms of safety. I'm encircled by the infinity, the unlimited, unmeasurable, unbounded by time, space or number of Christ's and my Father in heaven's mercy. Now with that, I get the prayer again. Now he's going to tell me what I specifically can pray for. We go back to that and he uses that phrase, faith under repentance again. I can get that faith under repentance by understanding his love. So now verse 18, what do I cry for? First of all, cry unto him for mercy. He is mighty to save. Humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto him.

And now he gives the same thing that Alma taught. He is mighty to save. Humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto Him. And now He gives the same thing that Alma taught. You can pray to God anywhere, over anything, anytime, any environment. Cry in your fields, over your flocks, in your houses, in the morning, in the midday, in the evening, against your enemies, against the morning, in the midday, in the evening, against your enemies, against the adversary, over your crops, over your flocks. But this is not all 26. You must pour out your souls, in your closets, in your secret places, and in your wildernesses. I love that expression.

Prayer we use so much that it takes some of the power out of it, but we pour out, we pour out. God says to us sometimes, what's in your heart today Michael? I say well Lord, I'm sad today. Well pour it out. I'm worried today. I have anxiety about my grandchildren. Well, pour it out. I'm full of joy and gratitude. Pour it out. I love to hear of your joys and gratitude. My soul is full of guilt today. Pour it out. Pour it out. There's nothing you can't tell

Him. And when you do not cry unto the Lord your God, let your hearts be full drawn out in prayer unto him continually for the welfare and also for the welfare of those who are around you. You're walking down the street, you're in the middle of a class, you're whatever. You don't have to kneel down. You just talk to me because I will always listen. And that is one of the ways that we plant the seed and we nourish the plant and by having that kind of a relationship with God.

Now he gives us something else, 28. Again, remember the context of this is, how do I plant the seed? Give me some doable things. Well you're going to look, study the scriptures, you're going to pray in all things, and now you're going to be charitable. In verse 28 and 29 he says, after you've done all these other things, you're praying, you're reading the scriptures, you're looking, you're humbling yourself.

If you turn away the needy and the naked and visit not the sick and afflicted and in part of your substance, if you have it, to those who stand in need I stand you, if you do not any of these things, your prayer is vain, availeth you nothing, you're as hypocrites. Therefore if you do not remember to be charitable. So that's the next thing, be charitable. One of the ways we plant the seed is to be charitable. I'm going back to the village who's lost her faith. She used to believe as a child, she doesn't anymore. And she wants him to prove to her there is a God and he's loving and to anything here but it is possible to be

convinced how by what now our whole conversation today has been trying to answer that question right how to be convinced of the truth of things this is Dostoevsky's answer with all due respect to amulet Dostoevsky's answer. With all due respect to Amulek, Dostoevsky does better. Okay? Because he's going to tell us what charity will do in terms of increasing your faith and understanding and knowledge of God. Here he's saying, look, if you're praying for something, you need to be charitable. Dostoevsky is saying the very act of your being charitable in the knowledge of God. Here he's saying, look, if you're praying for something, you need to be charitable. Dostoevsky is saying, the very act of your being charitable

will grow your tree, will build your faith. So she says, it's possibly convinced. How, by what? By the experience of active love. Try to love your neighbors actively and tirelessly. The more you succeed in loving, the more you'll be convinced of the existence of God and the immortality of your soul. And if you reach complete selflessness in the love of your neighbor,

then undoubtedly you will believe, and no doubt will ever be able to enter your soul. This has been tested. This is certain. This is exactly true. Active love is labor and perseverance, and for some people perhaps a whole science. And in that very moment when you see with horror that despite all your efforts you not only have not come nearer your goal but seem to have gotten farther away from it.

You want to be even more charitable than you are. You will suddenly reach your goal and will clearly behold over you the wonder-working power of the Lord who all the while has been loving you and all the while has been mysteriously guiding you." Amulek says, be charitable. That will help you grow your senior faith. Dostoevsky says, to the extent that you are charitable and love other people and actively serve them, you will come to where you know exactly what God is and no doubt will enter your mind why because we say God is love and the connection of your loving heart with his loving heart comes together. I do that

In verse 29 where it says therefore if you do not remember to be charitable ye are as dross well that struck me once because I thought I've seen that word before and At the beginning of the story in Alma 32 verse 3 When the poor of the Zoramites come up, he says they were esteemed by their brethren as dross because of their poverty. I think it's the only two times the word appears Amulek is saying you're not dross because you're poor. You're dross if you don't remember to be charitable. You misunderstand what dross is. Yeah, it flips it the other way. I was just reminded of sister and that Dennis's talk in general conference where she talked about kaffar

That means to cover and kafat that means an embrace and look at that verse 16 Mercy can satisfy the demands of justice and encircles them in the arms of safety Is there's the kafat, the close embrace. And that's the most word related to kafar for atonement. While he that exercises no faith unto repentance, and Amulek says, is exposed. How interesting. To atone is to cover. Without that, we're exposed. is to cover without that we're exposed and we're not in the arms of safety. Mm-hmm. If we go to 31 I love this word and it's the idea that John you had mentioned earlier that there's lots of themes in the Book of Mormon but the single most important theme has to do with forgiveness and it's introduced in the title page when he

talks about the purposes of the Book of Mormon I sometimes like to do a larger to smaller thing with it the Book of Mormon says it's to show you what great things God did for your fathers there's three purposes to show you what great things God did for the fathers, for people in the past. Teach you the covenants and to testify that Jesus is the Christ. And we cut it short right there. We give half of the purpose. We say the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify Jesus is the Christ. I can sometimes hear the Lord say, finish the sentence guys, there's more to it comma the eternal God

comma manifesting himself unto all nations the purpose of the Book of Mormon isn't to testify he's the Christ the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify he's the Christ and he will manifest himself to all nations so then I say well what's smaller than a nation? Well, people. Ammon, when he gets back from his mission with the Lamanites, he says, what did he learn from that whole experience? In Alma 26, I learned that God is mindful as the word he uses, mindful of all people. He will manifest himself unto them. I manifest myself to all nations. I'm mindful of all people.

You've got Alma the Younger when he comes out of that coma in Mosiah 27 and he says, what did he learn from it? God remembereth. Every creature manifests to all nations, mindful to all people, remembers every person. You get a third Nephi 17, the little children, bless and pray for every child howl one by one. Now what is the great thing that he did for the fathers that we want him to do for us? We want him to forgive us. And so now we come to story after story after story and we're gonna get the word from Amulek here and then I'll just give you a few examples you could give them yourselves. He says in 31, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer.

For behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation. You want to be forgiven now, right now, this hour, this day. It's available. Now is the day. That's how I read that. I don't read it as threatening. I read it you want it. Now is the day time and the day of your salvation. Therefore if you will repent, harden not your hearts. Love this word. Immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you immediately." The infinite

nature and the immediate nature of Christ. So now I say, okay, he's gonna manifest, be mindful, remember, bless, and pray for every one of us. You start looking at the Book of Mars says, I really want them to know that I'm going to forgive them. I really want them to know. I don't care who they are, what they did, whatever circumstances, and I'm going to do it immediately. You could start with Nephi's, oh wretched man that I am. So let's go to Enos.

Enos prays, what does he pray for? Forgiveness. Does he get it? Yes. Yeah. When? Immediately. Immediately. The Lord says, boy, I hope they got the message. I better give them another story. So now you go to King Benjamin's people at the beginning of Mosiah. What do they pray for? We go to the actual words. They play for for forgiveness do they get it? Yes. When? Immediately. Immediately. Immediately. The Lord says I wonder if they got it. I better give them another I give them another example.

They might think that I give it to people like Benjamins who were keeping all the commandments pretty good or Enos who was a good boy. How about rebellious person out to destroy the church? Will they get it? So now let's do the sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger. Do they get it? Yes. Yes. They asked for it. Do they get it? Yes. When? Immediately. Immediately. And the Lord says, I hope they got that. I really want them to get this. I better give them another story. So now we go to the Lamanites. How about the Lamanites? Now I've got King Lamoni.

What does he ask for? That his evil spirit will be rooted from him. Rooted out of him. Yeah. You can go to the exact word. They're all asking for forgiveness. Does he get it? Mm-hmm. Yes. When? Immediately. Immediately. Well, within a couple of days he's out, right? He's unconscious for a while. He's getting it immediately. How about his father? Mm-hmm. Does he pray for it? Yeah. Yeah? Give away all my sins. He gets it.

Oh, give away all my sins. How about Zeezrom? How about the Lamanites who come into the prison in Helaman 5 to execute Nephi and Lehi? And the clouds of darkness swirl around them. They cry out because Aminadab tells them, you've got to cry out to Jesus. To the voice. Cry out to God. And they cry out. a minute that tells me you gotta cry out to Jesus voice crowd to God and they crowd what happens. Do they get forgiveness. When immediately immediately in the darkness of third Nephi what does the savior say to the people all you who were spared.

Will you now turn to me and let me heal you. Will you now turn to me and let me heal you? Do you not understand the infinite and immediate nature of my atoning grace, my redemption? It is immediate and it is infinite. You need more than 70 times 7? Don't worry. It reminds me of the sacred growth. Wanted forgiveness of my sins. Almost the first thing that said,

this is my beloved son, hear him. Joseph, my son, thy sins are forgiven. What are the sweetest words we want to hear in our ears? Thy sins are forgiven me. Now I know that because of policy and situations that there has to be sometimes, I can't give you a temple recommend for a year, we do these things, but the Book of Mormon testifies again and again and again. You ask for forgiveness, you cry out, you want forgiveness, you are crying out to a being who however, whenever, in whatever manner he got it,

his soul is filled with mercy. It's infinite, unbounded, unlimited, unmeasurable in time, space, and number, and you get it immediately. Now for that, what do I do? I had to do something for that right? If I go back to Mosiah 25 verse 10, notice the phrase here, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites. They did raise their voices and give thanks to God. I like that phrase, the immediate goodness of God. If I go in the Psalms, I chose this Psalm because we all know it, we just don't know the Joseph Smith translation of it. This is Psalm 30 verse 5.

His anger endureth but a moment. In his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. We often use that in terms of affliction, but it is specifically dealing in a certain sense with maybe I've got him a little upset at me for something. Now the Joseph Smith version goes says it this way, for his anger kindled against the wicked they repent and in a moment it is turned away and they are in his favor and he giveth them life therefore weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning and he giveth them life therefore you may weep the implication is you're weeping over your sense, your failings, your humanity, transgressions.

What do I do to give back to him what he's done? Well, at 32 and 33, I like to do it in the context of planting the tree. That was what started this whole thing off, Plant the Seed. He's going to give you and I four things to do. Don't procrastinate. If I get it immediately, maybe I ought to use that word for myself too. 32, he says, behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. What I would ask, according to the contact, what is the best way to prepare to meet God? Well, I stand before God one day and the Lord says to me, Michael, many many

years ago I gave you a very very precious seed. It was a seed from the tree of life and I told you to plant it in your heart and nourish it and grow a seed. I grow a tree. I want to see your tree. Show me your tree. And if I say, Oh Lord, look at my tree. I'm prepared to meet him. Then he says, Behold this day, the day of this life, is the day for men to perform their labors. What's the most important labor I can perform in life? Answer, grow a tree. Grow a tree.

Many goes on, now as I have said unto you before, and as you have had so many witnesses, I beseech you, do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end for after this day of life which has given us to prepare for eternity what's the best way of preparing for eternity grow a tree grow the tree of life in your heart now you're prepared if we do not improve our time, what is the best use of our time well in this life? Grow a tree. I grow the tree. Now I'm prepared to meet him. I've performed the most important labor of life. I'm prepared for eternity. I've improved the time gave me in this life. I'd almost like to stop here in some sense. You don't because he then talks about an awful crisis.

If I'm not ready. We'll just sum it up like this. Procrastinate later. Yeah, that's where you go. He does some final things. It's almost like we all in a talk. So I'm just okay. I'm out of time. I'm going to throw a few things out really quick for you because I've talked about the most important ones. If you want some more practical things that you're going to do, he says in verse 37, I want you to remember. Okay, I'm remember what? Well, one work. well one work how do you plant the tree and help it to grow inertia while you work it is work

as dust ask you said it's work and then he throws out another one don't fight the holy ghost receiving and listen to it take upon you the name of christ and be humble worship god wherever and live in thanksgiving daily. You and I all do that, don't we all do that? You come to the end of a class, I've only got five minutes and I had eight more things I want to say, so you throw them out really quick. Work, take the Holy Ghost, humble yourself, worship God wherever you

are, be grateful, 39, pray continually. Be careful of the adversary. Verse 40. Don't argue with each other. Quit reviling against those who disagree with you. We are so full of reviling one another. So don't revile even against those who've treated you bad and cast you out. And then be patient. With With patience bear your afflictions with a firm hope that you will one day rest. Throws all those things out at the very very end which is kind of what I did. I'm in the spirit of Amulek here you throw them out at the end really really quickly. Alma 34 it's the infinite and the immediate nature of Christ that I think is most important in that chapter. And then his, as I say, grow a tree that'll prepare you to meet God. It's the labor you need to perform.

It'll prepare you for eternity. It's the best use of your time. You just grow that tree. Then when you meet him with joy, you'll say, look at my tree, Lord. And he'll say, Oh, what a wonderful tree. Look at that tree. I don't want to show some half dead, dry shriveled up thing. The Lord says, wow, this is your tree. I can see where you've been spending your time. You're not prepared for eternity because you know what we eat up here in heaven? What do you eat, Lord? Well, we eat fruit of the tree of life. The catch is, everybody eats the fruit from their own tree. I'm being somewhat facetious. I love that phrase, too, live in thanksgiving daily. There's some really great amulet phrases here, aren't there?

Yeah, you could spend a lot of time in any of those last ones that he does. Of course, you could spend a lot of doctrinal time in the same spirit that you have here, but it breaks the aura that sometimes Alma 34 gives. I want to bask in immediately in how you took us through the Book of Mormon and look who asks for forgiveness and look how fast they get it. They always get it. Everybody that asks for forgiveness in the Doctrine and Covenants, same thing, peace forgiving constantly in the Doctrine and Covenants. Forgiving Joseph Smith over and over again. That's the infinite nature. It's a good thing because I need it. There have been times in my life when I have felt God's forgiveness before I asked.

He can forgive faster than I can repent. I like that last phrase in verse 41, one day you will rest. Yeah. One day, a future day. Mike, thank you for walking us through these chapters. I took so many notes. I think I filled up every margin. Me too. I've started taking notes on a piece of paper over here because I couldn't get them on all on the page.

Let me ask you a last question. You kind of alluded to this when we started. Here is a well-read teacher for, we're going on five decades now of teaching the Gospel. Dr. DeGray, I think your dissertation was on C.S. Lewis, pretty good writer. Yeah, it was fun. If you're going to do a dissertation, do a fun one. You know, do one you're going to enjoy. Well-read, well-educated, having having taught the gospel and you love this book. How do you come to a love of this book you've read? I would guess hundreds, not thousands of books. How does this one hold up? The teaching of it has been helpful and if there's one thing that I teaching of it has been helpful and if there's one thing that I brought away from trying to be wide-read, some of it is I just had thrown into my life the chance to do a lot of travel. I go to many many places and learn a lot and I

like learning. My mother addicted me to learning when I was young. I've read a lot, I have read a lot, sometimes I need to teach something, I need to teach Dostoevsky because I'm in Russia, so you read it. I always come back after reading anything else to Joseph Smith, to the Book of Mormon, to the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, with an increased appreciation, testimony, love, confidence in it because it's comfortable in the company of great things I have read. I always come back astonished by the power of the Book of Mormon and the scriptures that we have and the doctrines. I never come back thinking, hey, obviously this is written by a farm boy from New York.

This is written by men who live long lives, you know, Benjamin's a wise old man. These are people who have had great experiences and you sense that and you see it. Thoreau says, I don't anticipate I'm going to ever come back to the Book of Mormon and think, wow, somehow this thing doesn't cut it. No matter what I read, look at, become acquainted with my appreciation, love, faith in conviction of the goodness. If you don't want true, okay, but the goodness, the sheer beauty and goodness of what the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith offers us, what we have in the church is remarkable. We didn't get to 35. Aren't we supposed to get to 35? I think so. 35, you know, the Zoramites, gosh what evil people. The poor go and the anti-Nephiles accept them and these Zoramites are so mad. Send those people back to us. Probably

because they were workers or something for them. I don't know, but you're going to come in to, starting with chapter 36, a whole new theme that's all over the Book of Mormon, how to be a good parent. Now I get to watch Alma be a good father. You get to watch Benjamin be a father. You get to watch Mormon be a father. You get to watch Alma the elder be a father. You get to watch Helaman be a father, you get the mothers of the sons of the stripling warriors. It's got marvelous counsel to see Jacob as a father and if you just went to the Book of Mormon and say I'm gonna pull out I'm gonna look at all the parent-child relationships and see what I can learn about being a good parent, I can't think of a parenting book that's gonna give you more intelligence, wisdom, and knowledge of the Book of Mormon.

Here's one quick one. The last verse is kind of a nice parenting verse. When you look at it, you look at it in the context of the 15th verse, which tells us something about the world Alma's raising his children in. And it's a match to the world you and I are raising our children in. He says, seeing the hearts of the people began to wax hard that they began to be offended because of the strictness of the word. That's a pretty good description.

There's a lot of people who are often offended because of some of the exactness of the church's position on various things, of what's moral, what's right is right. You are raising your children. I'm all done. I'm worried about grandkids now. Living in a world where people are offended because of the strictness of the word. Now we don't like the word strict. I don't like that word. I would have loved to have had a little softer word in there, but that's the word. What does Alma do? He caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge separately concerning the things pertaining unto righteousness. Now what great key am I being taught about being a good father right there or a good

mother? How do you deal with your kids? Separately, one by one. One on one. Because all three of these boys are different. And he has different messages and things to say to them. One on one time is really important. You seek it. You try and create it. I try and do it with my grandchildren now. I'm blessed. I get to travel. I'll take a grandchild with me. And it's good for mother and daughter, mother and son, father and daughter, to bring one grandchild one by one. Now that's in a verse that we didn't really do chapter 35,

almost pass it over, but there is something like that in every chapter of the Book of Mormon. You're going to find wonderful things that are relevant to your lives and help us learn. If all anybody ever got out of this whole section you missed all the immediate and the infinite nature and plant your seed and all you got as you read this chapter of Come Follow Me was I need to spend separate one-on-one time with my children. You would have been rewarded for that one single truth and it is not a major truth in it. It's a subtle just slipped in there, but it may make the difference in a child's life that will have eternal consequences. What does that tell you about this book? It's inexhaustible.

Yeah, that's what it is. As deep as it is wide. Yeah. Well, we want to thank Dr. S. Michael Wilcox for being with us today. Mike, as usual, mind expanding, soul enlarging. My soul has been enlarged, right? Yeah, well, thank you. Yeah. Now, we love having you. We also want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen, our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen, and every episode we remember our founder, Steve Sorensen.

Join us next week. Mike introduced us to these chapters. Alma speaking to his sons. Join us for that on Follow Him. Before you skip to the next episode, Last week, Mike introduced us to these chapters, Alma speaking to his sons. Join us for that on Follow Him. Before you skip to the next episode, I have some important information. This episode's transcript and show notes are available on our website, followhim.co. On our website, you'll also find our two free books, Finding Jesus Christ in the Old

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