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| Fear Not by Walter Rene |
I love the experience of reading the scriptures and having the words leap off the page and become magnified before my eyes and their meaning magnified in my soul!
This morning I was reading Alma 12. Alma is talking about the redemption of mankind after the fall. He explains that God appointed a space between birth and death for men to participate in the process of redemption. God appointed death and then judgment. He then says:
28 And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them;
29 Therefore he sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory.
30 And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.
(Book of Mormon | Alma 12:28 - 30)
This is the process of dispensing knowledge from God to man! God has an immutable plan but mankind needs to know of that plan. This pattern of revelation occurs both for mankind as a whole and for each of us individually. Because it was expedient that man should know, God sent angels. When mankind had wandered far enough away from the requirements of salvation as given by the Savior here upon the earth and through his apostles, God once again proceeded to send angels to converse with the young man, Joseph Smith, and open his eyes to behold God's glory. Joseph called upon His name therefore God conversed with him and made known once again unto him the plan of redemption which had been prepared. This process continues as God converses with prophets to dispense this knowledge to those of God's children who have not heard that they too may begin this journey.
Alma continue to lay out the process of redemption:
32 Therefore God gave unto them commandments, (largely through the process of angels who converse with prophets who teach mankind) after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness;...
(Book of Mormon | Alma 12:32)
We also can and need to experience this pattern of dispensing revelation individually and the keys to this are in the last sentence of verse 30. "...and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works." There is much to think about in this one sentence as a matter of personal introspection. Our return to God's presence requires these three things along with keeping the commandments. On a larger scale we receive the blessings of salvation through knowledge and ordinances and covenants dispensed unto us through God's prophets and His church. But that is not all! The second half of the equation is our personal journey that follows the same pattern. We must gain personal faith. We must constantly repent and receive and retain a remission of our sins and we must participate in holy works. We might ask ourselves what constitutes holy works? Would not holy works be God's works and not our own? Our own strength and ability is lacking but if we ask, our works can be sanctified and consecrated for the welfare of our own souls and the souls of others. Through the Holy Ghost our works can be made holy.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 32:9)
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| Elijah by Walter Rene |
As we continue this journey at some point individually we will have a personal reunion with God our Father, through his son Jesus Christ, by the administration of the Holy Ghost with the ministering of angels. God will do for us individually what he is doing for his people as a whole. God is calling us home! He is reaching out to each of us! He is not just sitting back waiting for us but he is initiating the process.
33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;
34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
(Book of Mormon | Alma 12:33 - 34)
These are the words of God, himself! This is His personal invitation to you and I. How glorious is this gospel! How glorious is the restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. How glorious are His words that have come to us through the prophets in the Book of Mormon who were taught by angels the plan of redemption. What treasures we have in the word of God!
