A MAN OF HOLINESS

 

The works that followed Alma’s miraculous conversion should leave all of us in awe. Amongst his accomplishments as a high priest, a military commander and the first chief judge of the land, none distinguished him more than his missionary labours. He could have easily sat on the cushy judgment seat for the rest of his life (Mosiah 29:44) but Alma longed to save people. 

After being a chief judge for nine years, Alma gave up the judgment seat (Alma 4:20) and dedicated himself to establishing and strengthening the Church in the land of Zarahemla. In the process, he baptised 3,500 people (Alma 4:4,5). After he put the Church in order in Zarahemla, his missionary labours took him to Gideon, Melek and to the hot-bed of iniquity and apostasy, Ammonihah, the city that became Alma's crucible.

Alma didn't go to Ammonihah once, but twice. The first time he was spit upon, reviled and rejected (Alma 8:13). Alma left and whilst journeying in dejection and sorrow, an angel appeared to him commending him for his obedience (Alma 8:15). As he lifted Alma's spirits, he made the Lord's mercy known in asking him to return to Ammonihah to give the people a second chance. Alma didn't dawdle, he returned to the den of disbelievers with speed (Alma 8:18), for more abuse. It reminds me of another repentant sinner, Paul, of whom the Saviour said: “For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15,16)

Amulek, whom Alma acquired as a missionary companion on his return to Ammonihah, called Alma 'a holy man' (Alma 10:7, 9). And here is why: Alma fasted many days, he 'laboured much in the spirit', he 'wrestled with God in prayer' and he suffered, but in nothing did he excel more than in sorrowing for the people he sought to reclaim from their sins (Alma 8:10,14; 14:3,22). Alma, once a sinner, who laboured to turn people away from the truth, came to be Alma, who sorrowed for sinners. And here is why: experiencing ‘the darkest abyss’ and ‘nothing so bitter as were his pains’ (Mosiah 27:29; Alma 36:21) motivated Alma to want to rescue his fellowmen from such a fate and to bring them to the rewards of repentance which brought ‘exquisite and sweet joy’ (Alma 36:21). And then, I believe, the greatest reason: he saw God sitting upon his throne and his soul ‘longed to be there’ (Alma 36:22). This longing must have been as deep as was his sorrow for those he wished to save.

 
Alma’s call to repentance is legendary: "...have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye experienced a mighty change in your hearts? (Alma 5:14) Have you felt to sing ‘the song of redeeming love’? (Alma 5:26). I perceive, after such a marvellous conversion, this song was in his own heart. And his most famous question stands true today: Have ye received his image in your countenance? " (Alma 5:14). Because he did. And this made all the difference.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A LESSON IN SELF-FORGIVENESS

 

 

After Alma came out of his three days of torment he immediately began to preach of Christ's mercy and His power to save. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that he moped around and agonised over his past sins and felt bad about himself.  When recounting the experience to his son Helaman, he informs him of an extremely important end result of forgiveness that He received from the Saviour when he called upon His mercy.  He said: "And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more" (Alma 36:19).

One of the definitions of the word 'harrow' in the dictionary, is 'distress of mind' or to 'disturb painfully'.  What Alma is saying when he speaks of his experience is not that he forgot his sins but that the memory of them no longer distressed him and that the Saviour took away the painful state of mind that sins are capable of producing.  And why did He do that?  Surely, Alma, having been one of the 'very vilest of sinners' (Mosiah 28:4) deserved to feel bad about what he did.  But Alma did feel bad.  He suffered the godly sorrow asked of every repentant sinner, an intense sorrow which lasted for three days and which cast him into the very 'gall of bitterness' (Alma 36:18).  Obviously, the Saviour didn't require more than that of Alma.  He did not require him to live in the past for the rest of his life beating himself up for what he did.  What He did require of Alma was for Alma to become a great man.  A man who would be an instrument in His hands to teach others of Christ’s power to save. 

The true sign of repentance is never just forsaking one's sins but allowing the purifying power of the Holy Ghost to create a new man in Christ within us and with this new man becoming a profitable servant of God.  This is true fruits of repentance. Alma and the sons of Mosiah understood this (Alma 26:22). 

When you look at Alma and his life, do you see a broken man with a past or do you see a powerful prophet of the Lord? Alma, who went about with the intent to destroy the Church became Alma who led the Nephite armies in battle, who sat naked with Amulek in dungeons, who was spat upon by the unrepentant, who dumbfounded an anti-christ, who baptised thousands of souls unto repentance (Alma 4:4,5), who the Lord in the end took up unto himself (Alma 45:19).  Alma certainly did become that great man that the Lord needed. 

If you are still 'harrowed' up by your past sins, you are missing the person that you could be.  If you believe you are no good, the Lord can make nothing of you.  In this state you are not good to anyone; not to yourself, not to God, not to your fellowman.  If you consider yourself a bad person because of your past and do not possess inner peace, you will eventually start seeking it elsewhere.  And some of the places you can end up in have the potential to distance you from God and they are usually not long lasting.

If you have repented of your sins but can't let go of them, you are giving them more power than you are giving God. The adversary wants nothing more than for your sins to continue to have power over you, even after you have forsaken them.  But that power is really yours and only you can decide how it will be used.  Your forgiveness is not complete until you allow the Saviour to take away your remorse. The power of the Atonement can complete this process.  Believe it, trust it, ask for it.  The Lord has work for you to do and He is waiting.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: My Peace I Give Unto You by B. Laura Wilson)

SNATCHED FROM EVERLASTING BURNING

 

One might wonder, why such a spectacular conversion for Alma, the son of Alma. Like Apostle Paul,  I see that Alma’s conversion had a two-fold purpose. The first was to save his soul and set him on the path that would turn him into an instrument in God’s hands and the second is the most powerful lesson of the effectiveness of the Atonement in all the works of scripture. Alma's conversion shows us that no matter how big the sin, the Atonement is bigger still. Not only was Alma exceedingly sinful, he possessed an ability to convince others to follow his course leading them “to do after the manner of his iniquities” (Mosiah 27:8-9). This power, would have, no doubt, filled him with enormous pride which would have hardened his heart to be in direct opposition to God, making repentance extremely difficult without God's intervention but Alma had a destiny to fulfil….

There is no doubt that Alma was in Satan’s clutches. For such a vile sinner, there had to be a spectacular conversion. A conversion that would show what the Lord can make of us even when we seem to be beyond the point of no return, a conversion that would highlight not only the Saviour's mercy but the scope of His care and incomprehensible love. The extent and seriousness of Alma's sins can be seen in the recounting of his experience where he says he waded 'through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death', being 'in the darkest abyss', with his soul being 'racked with eternal torment' (Mosiah 27:28,29). Amidst all that anguish, Alma describes his deliverance with an interesting word. He says he was snatched from eternal torment and everlasting burning (Mosiah 27:28). Imagine the Saviour's willingness to go to the fires of hell to deliver one of the vilest of sinners. Imagine the power to snatch someone from excruciating pain before they are consumed. What more powerful lesson can we learn from Alma's conversion than this?

 

The Saviour would wade into a raging fire to rescue any of us. Consider this story that illustrates the selflessness of such an act:

 

 "I remember reading about a fire fighter in the eastern United States who ran into a burning house to rescue several children from an arson-induced fire. While his colleagues battled the blaze to keep it from spreading to other structures in the neighbourhood, this man dashed into the building again and again, each time emerging with a child in his arms. After rescuing a fifth child, he started into the inferno once more. Neighbours shouted that there were no more children in the family. But he insisted that he had seen a baby in a cradle, and he dove into the intensifying heat.

 

Moments after he disappeared into the fire and smoke, a horrifying explosion shook the building and the entire structure collapsed. It was several hours before fire fighters were able to locate their colleague's body. They found him in the nursery near the crib, huddled protectively over a life-sized - and practically unscratched - doll.

 

I'm overwhelmed by that story. I'm touched by the fire fighter's courageous and selfless devotion to duty, and I'm thankful that there are men and women in the world who are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of others.

 

As I think about such heroism, however, I'm reminded that the most heroic act of all time ever was performed in behalf of all mankind by the Son of God. In a very real sense, all of humanity - past, present, and future - was trapped behind a wall of flame that was fuelled and fanned by our own faithlessness. Sin separated mortals from God (see Romans 6:23), and would do so forever unless a way was found to put out the fires of sin and rescue us from ourselves" (Elder M. Russell Ballard, Our Search for Happiness, p 11).

 

He stood between you

And the gaping jaws of hell,

He cherished your soul

And snatched you from everlasting

Misery of the damned.

He planted the seed of faith

In your willing heart

But you, you tilled the ground

And nurtured the tree of faith

Growing the fruit, so exquisite and sweet.

So heavy in your overflowing arms

You sought to feed the spiritually maimed.

He who stood at the gates of Hell

Your soul to save

Gathered the fruit,

The path to His throne to pave.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Recruiting Alma by Jacob Z. Hess)

THIS MY SON

 

I have a soft spot for Alma the Elder. The heroism of leading a group of believers away from the murderous intents of King Noah is admirable to say the least. His repentance, however, from a sinful life (Mosiah 23:9) and the humility he gained which led him to be an instrument in God’s hands deserves every commendation (v 10, 11). It is with this humility that he refused his followers’ request to be their king (v 7-9, 13). He learnt well from his experience with King Noah.

Alma’s greatness began with the establishment of the Church in the city they called Helam (Mosiah 23:16,20) where for 20 years he watched over his people teaching them to live in harmony and love (23:15) and to depend on God for their deliverance after they fell into bondage to the Lamanites (23:27). Once they joined the people of Zarahemla, Alma the Elder established the Church there also and became the high priest over the whole land (25:19). He was loved and he was respected. Imagine his surprise and embarrassment when persecution arose among the rising generation and smack in the middle of it was his son Alma the Younger…..(26:1-4)

Imagine the grief and sorrow to have your own son working to discredit your life's work. Because he was a son and called The Younger, many readers of the Book of Mormon have presumed that Alma the Younger was a youth when rebelling against his father and against God. Mormon however, identifies him as 'a man' (Mosiah 27:8,9), a well-seasoned sinner, well-practiced in his ability to create trouble, an apostate who made it his life's work to discredit the Church. It is very unlikely that Alma the Younger was a reckless hot-headed youth when he was wreaking havoc. A hot-headed youth is more concerned with pursuing his own self-interests and rebellion than being involved in apostasy. Shortly after Alma the Younger is visited by an angel, his father Alma dies at the age of 82 (Mosiah 29:45). It would have been unlikely that Alma at this age had a son in his twenties. This would suggest that Alma was more likely to have been in his 40s at the height of his wickedness and ensuing repentance.

 

The question of Alma's age offers more insight into the severity of his sinful life. His sins were not trivial, but heinous and destructive, not only to himself but to others (Mosiah 27:9). His sins and the persecutions which he heaped upon the saints no doubt went on for years. These were not trivial sins easily washed away, but Alma had a good father….a father who prayed unceasingly for the saving grace of his son (27:14). And when that grace came, Alma the Elder gathered people around to pray and fast for his son that “the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God” (27:22). One can only imagine Alma’s joy to see the fruits of repentance in ‘this, his son’.

 

Alma the Elder died at the age of 82, “having lived to fulfil the commandments of God” (Mosiah 29:45). Repentance became a legacy in his family because some 20 years later Alma the Younger’s son Corinaton caused his father immense sorrow…..I wonder if Alma reflected at the time what he had done to his father.

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

( Art: This My Son by Elspeth C. Young)

THE PROPHET OF THE RESTORATION

 

When I went searching for the truth at the ripe old age of 16, I read a lot about the Church.  By the time I sought to be baptised, there was nothing much the missionaries could teach me. I knew all about Joseph Smith and accepted his prophetic calling without question. My real testimony of him, however, came 30 years later when I was working towards my University degree. I decided I would do a history assignment on the Church. This time I read much more about Joseph, as so much more was available online. What I read, however, were things written by the so called ‘intellectuals.

Joseph was told by Moroni, when only a teenager, that his 'name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people' (JHS 1:33). The research for my assignment took me down the path that made me sorrow and shed tears. In the end I had to bend my knees and ask the Lord to help me understand the man Joseph Smith. What happened is not something I expected. I don’t know how it COULD happen but it did. During the course of my prayer, I was ‘shown’ Joseph Smith’s heart. I understood that all he did during his prophetic calling was done out of the goodness that lay there. As this understanding flooded over me I could not contain my tears and came to appreciate the great sacrifices he made in fulfilling his earthly purpose. I came to know and understand him in the spiritual sense and my testimony of him became iron clad.

It is my belief that we need to tread lightly when we delve into the past. I heard one of my University professors say once that history is very much subjective. Even though it is supposed to be cold hard facts, they are recorded from someone's perspective, a human perspective. We of this century cannot fully understand the mentality, the challenges and the pattern of how things worked in times past. Equally hard to understand to the people of other time periods would be our dispensation; the liberties we take, the freedoms we have, the technology which affords us the ease with which we perform our daily tasks, the stresses of modern-day living, our sicknesses, our anxieties, our depressions, our battle with forces of evil.  Some things we consider normal now would be considered unacceptable and inappropriate in yesteryear. Times change and with it the mentality of the people.

Joseph Smith is the root of our Church, the Church being an institution and establishment, not the Gospel. The root of the Gospel is and ever will be our Beloved Christ. He is the foundation on which the Church rests. We are blessed with immensely rich heritage as members of the restored Church. We should never be ashamed or reluctant to voice our witness of this heritage. When we tell non-members about our Church, may we always bear witness of the Prophet of the Restoration. I have heard it said, if a person cannot accept Joseph Smith, they can’t accept the Church. I share here a missionary story of the father of President David O. McKay to prove this point:

"He accepted a call to a mission about 1880. When he began preaching in his native land and bore testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he noticed that the people turned away from him. They were bitter in their hearts against anything Mormon, and the name of Joseph Smith seemed to arouse antagonism in their hearts. One day he concluded that the best way to get these people would be to preach just the simple principles, the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first principles of the gospel, and not bear testimony of the restoration of the gospel. It first came simply, as a passing thought, but yet it influenced his future work. In a month or so he became oppressed with a gloomy, downcast feeling, and he could not enter into the spirit of his work. He did not really know what was the matter, but his mind became obstructed; his spirit became clogged; he was oppressed and hampered, and that feeling of depression continued until it weighed him down with such heaviness that he went to the Lord and said: 'Unless I can get this feeling removed, I shall have to go home. I cannot continue my work with this feeling'.

It continued for some time after that, then one morning before daylight, following a sleepless night, he decided to retire to a cave, near the ocean, where he knew he would be shut off from the world entirely, and there pour out his soul to God and ask why he was oppressed with this feeling, what he had done, and what he could do to throw it off and continue his work....He entered that place and said: 'Oh, Father, what can I do to have this feeling removed? I must have it lifted or I cannot continue in this work'; and he heard a voice, as distinct as the tone I am now uttering, say: 'Testify that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God'. Remembering, then what he tacitly had decided six weeks or more before and becoming overwhelmed with the thought, the whole thing came to him in a realization that he was there for a special mission, and that he had not given that special mission the attention which it deserved. Then he cried in his heart, 'Lord, it is enough’……... (Gospel Ideals, pp 21-22)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph Smith at Saviour's Feet by Liz Lemon Swindle)

 

A LIFE OF SACRIFICE

 

If we do not believe that Joseph Smith has done more towards the salvation of mankind save Jesus alone (D&C 135:3), we do not know and understand the Book of Mormon. In an interview with her sons a few months before she died, Emma Smith, bore her testimony to them: "My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity. I have not the slightest doubt of it....Joseph Smith could never write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates....and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, 'a marvel and a wonder', as much as to anyone else" (“A Treasured Testament, Ensign, July 1993, 62-63).

Describing her experience, Emma said: "The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth which I had given him [Joseph] to fold them in. I once felt the plates as they lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book". She also testified, "I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the church to have been established by divine direction" (Gracia N. Jones, My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith, Ensign Aug 1992)

What do we owe to Joseph Smith, 'a disturber and an annoyer of Satan's kingdom' (JHS 1:20), the revealer of God, a martyr in the cause of truth? In my opinion, much more than slanderous words and disregard for his sacrifices, obedience and divine appointment. When Parley P. Pratt visited Emma, 'a woman of commitment in sorrow', in Nauvoo where she remained after the saints travelled west, she told him 'I believe he [Joseph] was everything he professed to be'. Emma lived almost 35 years after the martyrdom of her prophet-husband. A few days before she died she told her nurse, Elizabeth Revel, that Joseph had come to her in a vision and said: "'Emma, come with me, it is time for you to come with me'. As Emma related it, she said, 'I put on my bonnet and my shawl and went with him; I did not think that it was anything unusual. I went with him into a mansion, and he showed me through the different apartments of that beautiful mansion'. And one room was the nursery. In that nursery was a babe in the cradle. She said, 'I knew my babe, my Don Carlos that was taken from me'. She sprang forward, caught the child up in her arms and wept with joy over the child. When Emma recovered herself sufficient she turned to Joseph and said, 'Joseph, where are the rest of my children?' He said to her, 'Emma, be patient and you shall have all of your children'. Then she saw standing by his side a personage of light, even the Lord Jesus Christ." (Gracia N. Jones, My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith, Ensign Aug 1992)

I have a profound gratitude for the prophet Joseph Smith upon whom the Saviour himself sealed his exaltation on 12 July 1843 in Nauvoo, Illinois:

"For I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity; for, verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare for you a throne in the kingdom of my Father...."  (D&C 132:49)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph in Liberty Jail by Liz Lemon Swindle)

THE INFALLIBLE BOOK OF MORMON

 

I am often amazed at the critics of The Book of Mormon, especially those who claim they have read it and do not believe it. I do not understand how anyone who has read such a spiritually charged book could disclaim it. The only explanation I can come up with is this: “….when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Notice how Nephi says the Holy Ghost carries the truth UNTO people’s hearts and not INTO. The message can only ever penetrate the heart of the hearer if the hearer allows it. And because of this “….there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught” (v 2). In other words, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. (See also "Seek Learning by Faith by Elder David A. Bednar, Ensign Sept 2007, 61-68).

If you have ever had suspicions that an uneducated man such as Joseph Smith, or anyone else,  could have written “the full-blown history of an ancient people, following them through all the trials, triumphs, and vicissitudes of a thousand years without a break, telling how a civilization originated, rose to momentary greatness, and passed away, giving due attention to every phase of civilized history in a densely compact and rapidly moving story that interweaves dozens of plots with an inexhaustible fertility of invention and an uncanny consistency that is never caught in a slip or contradiction” (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.7, Ch.6, pp.137, 138), I offer the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland for consideration:

"[I only] say what so many have said before: that if Joseph Smith–or anyone else, for that matter–created the Book of Mormon, that to me is a far greater miracle than the proposition that he translated the book from ancient records with an endowment of divine power to do so. Has anyone here ever tried to write anything? Have you ever, with your degrees and libraries and computers and research assistants, ever tried to write anything anyone could stand to read? Even if you have, my guess is you haven’t succeeded at writing anything anyone would read more than once, or say it changed their lives, or say that were willing to leave family and fortune and future for–and then do it.

You thought it was tough to have your dissertation committee grill you for a couple of hours? How about tossing your piece of work to the most hostile–and learned–of enemies for, say, 164 years (just to pull a number out of the air). Go ahead. Put that terrific master’s thesis of yours out there under a microscope for everyone to kick and gouge and attack for a century or two, and let’s see how marvelous that university-produced accomplishment of yours really was. After a little of that, are you still standing by the divinity and immortality of your work? Is anybody still reading it?

In light of all this, as it applies to the Book of Mormon which is still changing human lives and still moving moral mountains, and as one who has tried to write a line or two of both poetry and prose and failed miserably, I want to meet the author of this work whoever it is. I want to praise first hand such a remarkably gifted writer. Surely in 164 years there must be someone willing to step forward– you know, the “real” author–claiming credit for such a remarkable document and all that has transpired in its wake…..Well, the simple fact of the matter is no other origin for the Book of Mormon has ever come to light because there isn’t one. A bad man could not have fabricated such an inspiring book and a good man would not have done so" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, CES Symposium, BYU Marriott Center, 9 August 1994).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mormon Abridging the Plates by Jon McNaughton)