RLDS Verse Results

170 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold, it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life;

171 And because of your diligence, and your faith, and your patience with the word, in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by, ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white; yea, and pure above all that is pure;

172 And ye shall feast upon this fruit, even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

173 Then my brethren ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.

174 Now after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe in one God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he had spoken, or how they should plant the seed, or the word, of which he had spoken, which he said must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith?

175 And Alma said unto them, Behold, ye have said that ye could not worship your God, because ye are cast out of your synagogues.

176 But behold, I say unto you, If ye suppose that ye can not worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them.

177 Do ye remember to have read what Zenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or worship?

178 For he said, Thou art merciful O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness: yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me:

179 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.

180 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.

181 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, 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;

182 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations; yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out, and have been despised by mine enemies;

183 Yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger, with speedy destruction; and thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity;

184 And it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me; therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions; for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.

185 And now Alma said unto them, Do ye believe those scriptures which have been written by them of old?

186 Behold, if ye do, ye must believe what Zenos said; for behold, he said, Thou hast turned away thy judgments, because of thy Son.

187 Now, behold, my brethren, I would ask, if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?

188 For it is not written that Zenos alone spake of these things, but Zenock also spake of these things; for behold, he said, Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand of thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them, because of thy Son.

189 And now my brethren, ye see that a second prophet of old has testified of the Son of God; and because the people would not understand his words, they stoned him to death.

190 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God.

191 Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold, a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

192 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts.

193 But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look; therefore they perished.

194 Now the reason they would not look, was because they did not believe that it would heal them.

195 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes, that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

196 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins;

197 And that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged, at the last and judgment day, according to their works.

198 And now my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell, even so nourish it by your faith.

199 And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life.

200 And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do, if ye will. Amen.

201 And now it came to pass that after Alma had spoken these words unto them, he sat down upon the ground, and Amulek arose and began to teach them, saying, My brethren, I think that it is impossible that ye should be ignorant of the things which have been spoken concerning the coming of Christ, who is taught by us to be the Son of God;

202 Yea, I know that these things were taught unto you, bountifully, before your dissension from among us, and as ye have desired of my beloved brother, that he should make known unto you what ye should do, because of your afflictions; and he hath spoken somewhat unto you to prepare your minds; yea, and he hath exhorted you unto faith, and to patience;

203 Yea, even that ye would have so much faith as even to plant the word in your hearts, that ye may try the experiment of its goodness; and 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.

204 And ye also beheld that my brother has proven unto you, in many instances that the word is in Christ, unto salvation.

205 My brother has called upon the words of Zenos, that redemption cometh through the Son of God, and also upon the words of Zenock: and also he has appealed unto Moses, to prove that these things are true.

206 And now behold, I will testify unto you of myself, that these things are true.

207 Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God has spoken it;

208 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the eternal God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish;

209 Yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen, and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made;

210 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice: but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.

211 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood, which will atone for the sins of another.

212 Now if a man murdereth, behold, will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.

213 But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing, which is short of an infinite atonement, which will suffice for the sins of the world; therefore it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice;

214 And then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the Law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall all be fulfilled; every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.

215 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal; and thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name;

216 This being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

217 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance, is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore, only unto him that has faith unto repentance, is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

218 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save;

219 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him; cry unto him when ye are in your fields; yea, over all your flocks; cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening; yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies; yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

220 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them: cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

221 But this is not all: ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness;

222 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.

223 And now behold, my brethren, I say unto you, Do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance if ye have, to those who stand in need;

224 I say unto you, If ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith;

225 Therefore if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth,) and is trodden under foot of men.

226 And now, my brethren, I would that after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, come forth and bring fruit unto repentance;

227 Yea, 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; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

228 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God: yea, behold, the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

229 And now as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore I beseech of you, that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end;

230 For after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness, wherein there can be no labor performed.

231 Ye can not say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God.

232 Nay, ye can not say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

233 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance, even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his;

234 Therefore the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

235 And this I know, because the Lord has said, he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell;

236 Yea, and he has also said, that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white, through the blood of the Lamb.

237 And now my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ; that ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth;

238 And that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you; yea, and I also exhort you my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptation of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day: for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing.

239 And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them; but that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

240 Now it came to pass that after Amulek had made an end of these words, they withdrew themselves from the multitude, and came over into the land of Jershon;

241 Yea, and the rest of the brethren, after they had preached the word unto the Zoramites, also came over into the land of Jershon.

242 And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their craft; therefore they would not hearken unto the words.

243 And they sent and gathered together throughout all the land, all the people, and consulted with them concerning the words which had been spoken.

244 Now their rulers, and their priests, and their teachers, did not let the people know concerning their desires; therefore they found out privily the minds of all the people.

245 And it came to pass that after they had found out the minds of all the people, those who were in favor of the words which had been spoken by Alma and his brethren, were cast out of the land; and they were many, and they came over also into the land of Jershon.

246 And it came to pass that Alma and his brethren did minister unto them.

247 Now the people of the Zoramites were angry with the people of Ammon who were in Jershon, and the chief ruler of the Zoramites being a very wicked man, sent over unto the people of Ammon desiring them that they should cast out of their land all those who came over from them into their land.

248 And he breathed out many threatenings against them.

249 And now the people of Ammon did not fear their words, therefore they did not cast them out, but they did receive all the poor of the Zoramites that came over unto them;

250 And they did nourish them, and did clothe them, and did give unto them lands for their inheritance; and they did administer unto them according to their wants.

251 Now this did stir up the Zoramites to anger against the people of Ammon, and they began to mix with the Lamanites, and to stir them up also to anger against them;

252 And thus the Zoramites and the Lamanites began to make preparations for war against the people of Ammon, and also against the Nephites.

253 And thus ended the seventeenth year of the reign of the Judges, over the people of Nephi.

254 And the people of Ammon departed out of the land of Jershon, and came over into the land of Melek, and gave place in the land of Jershon for the armies of the Nephites, that they might contend with the armies of the Lamanites, and the armies of the Zoramites;

255 And thus commenced a war betwixt the Lamanites and the Nephites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the Judges; and an account shall be given of their wars hereafter.

256 And Alma, and Ammon, and their brethren, and also the two sons of Alma, returned to the land of Zarahemla, after having been instruments in the hands of God of bringing many of the Zoramites to repentance; and as many as were brought to repentance, were driven out of their land;

257 But they have lands for their inheritance in the land of Jershon, and they have taken up arms to defend themselves, and their wives, and children, and their lands.

258 Now Alma, being grieved for the iniquity of his people, yea for the wars, and the bloodsheds, and the contentions which were among them; and having been to declare the word, or sent to declare the word, among all the people in every city;

259 And seeing that the hearts of the people began to wax hard, and that they began to be offended because of the strictness of the word, his heart was exceeding sorrowful;

260 Therefore, 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.

261 And we have an account of his commandments, which he gave unto them according to his own record.