1 NOW it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, [ What words of King Benjamin could they not understand? Chapters 1-5 Why could they not understand the words of King Benjamin? They simply were not there to feel the powerful spirit that was had by all at the time of the delivery of those words. How about they did not receive the words of King Benjamin through the gift of the spirit - therefore they did not mean much to them? see Mosiah 6:2 How does teaching by the spirit make a difference? see Mosiah 4:2 ] being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers. [ "Traditions" - or testimonies. Do we just call this Generation gap! - here we have a whole generation of children who simply do not believe. What reasons could we give for so many of this generation not believing? Possible clues dissension vs 5- or speaking badly of chosen leaders, not having FHE, not praying together, respecting themselves, respecting others... Do you suppose that the parents could have looked around an said - hey my children are getting what they need in sunday school, primary, YM & YW? What lessons can we learn from this? In one generation they have gone from 100% belief to great unbelief. What was the advice that King Benjamin gave them in Mosiah 4:14-15? They needed to teach the children. The question then is, did they do as they were instructed? I suggest that they did not why because so many of them were coming back to church that the number of churches grew - so we might conclude that at least they were complacent in church attendance, and if they were complacent in church attendance they might well have been complacent in teach them about the gospel as well. What happens when we do not follow the prophets advice? ]

2 They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, [ What is you attitude toward life if you do not believe in the resurrection? Well if your belief is that you are limited to your time on earth then you better enjoy that time doing those things that give you the greatest pleasure - that is the purpose of life. If you believe in the resurrection than life has a different meaning. The doctrine here then is that it is very important to teach the principles of resurrection, without them people will fall away as there is no need to be obedient(the first law of the Gospel). ] neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. [ Now why is that so important to believe that Christ will return? Without faith in Christ and his mission to redeem the dead, the resurrection, the atonement, and then Christs eventual rule on earth, without that faith people will just live and do as they please. ]

3 And now because of their unbelief [ "unbelief" = Infidelity; disbelief of divine revelation. For the spirit to teach us what do we have to have? A desire to know, some faith and belief that at least it could be true, openness to the truth. ] they could not understand the word of God; [ What is so hard to understand that they could not? The things of God are best understood when taught and received by the power of God. ] and their hearts were hardened. [ Made hard, or more hard or compact; made unfeeling; made obstinate; ]

4 And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, [ Because they would not subscribe to the beliefs of their parents they separating themselves out. ] and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God.

5 And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; [ Notice that those who do not believe are less than 1/2 of the population. ] but because of the dissensions among the brethren [What kind of activities denote dissension? Backbiting, speaking badly of the Lords anointed - Like maybe Alma - who used to be a judge in Noahs wicked court now he thinks he can tell us what to do? Is there a lesson here for us? It appears that some still want to be of the world - they are influenced by the unbelievers and are not wholly committed to the works of the gospel. What influence did this have on the sons of Mosiah and Alma do you suppose?] they became more numerous. [ The unbelievers have an impact simular to a majority - caution for our day? ]

6 For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering [ Gratifying with praise; pleasing by applause; wheedling; coaxing. Pleasing as to pride or vanity; gratifying to self-love; ] words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; t [ How did their flattering words cause them to commit sin? Well they would flatter them into believing that it does not matter what you do, if it feels god for you do it. THe idea that there is no accountability, and once that doctrine is destroyed then you basically have free range. ] therefore it became expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished [ 1) to warn or notify of a fault; to reprove with mildness 2) to counsel against wrong practices 3) to instruct or direct 4) in ecclesiastical affairs~ to approve a member of the church for fault ~ either publicly or privately. ] by the church. [ Who is doing the admonishing? The leaders of the church. What is the doctrine? When a church court or counsel is held there are two primary sides in the court(those who are assigned to make sure that there is nothing done unrighteously to the person for whom the council has been hel; to make sure that they are protected. The second provision is to make sure that the good name of the church is protected. ) ]

7 And it came to pass that they [ The apostates that were members of the church. ] were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests by the teachers; and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest. [ The teachers turn them over to the priests and the priests turn the apostates over to Alma to deal with them. Alma is like Paul - he has a past - but that does not stopped him. ]

8 Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church. [ Shows division of church and state Why is it important to have a division between church and state? Alma's authority is limited to judging those in the church against the standards of the church. ]

9 And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning; [ Alma is not sure what to do because they never had this problem in the old style of government were they had a righteous King. Do you suppose that Alma had a few people challenge him as he tried to judge the members of the church - challenge him by saying such things as "I saw you do worse", "Don't tell me what to do when I saw you do..." Can you see Alma seeing that even though he has repented he would also be better off if he had never committed any sin? This was indeed a hard time for Alma. ] them [ The apostates that were members of the church. Verse 7 ] but there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance.

10 Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; [ Why? Because they had heard the words of King Benjamin, they were taught them by the spirit and they knew that they were true, as a result they lived by them. ] therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king. [ Why does Alma bring them before the King? Did Alma just want the king to handle the problem? Was Alma testing the King since the King gave him his authority over the church - was Alma seeing if the King really wanted him to make those kinds of decisions, was Alma a little unsure about himself in this new calling? Do we ever feel this way in our callings? ]

11 And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities. And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes.

12 But king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; [ Mosiah is perfectly willing to step into matters that deal with laws of the land such as harassment and persecution, see 27:1-7 So Mosiah's position here most likely is dealing with the laws of the church verses the laws of the land (government) . The “crimes” that Alma wants Mosiah to deal with (v. 11) are probably ones that are not violating any law of the land, so Mosiah indicates he cannot do anything about it. If people leave the church, that is not illegal so he cannot do anything about it. What reasons would king Mosiah have for not stepping in? By not taking a side and judging the non believers according to the laws of the church which would cause revolt quickly could Mosiah have been trying to these two cultures united as much as possible? more good comes form them acting as one than as separate groups. If people apostatize from the church, that isn't illegal so there isn't anything he can do about it.] therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged.

13 And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; [ Or he read and re-read the handbook of instructions and there is nothing here, what do I do? For him in a way it was like the LGBQ issues of today. In all honesty no one knows what to do to help, we understand the doctrine as does Alma, it is the what do I do now that has him puzzled. And if you have ever had to deal with that you know that it is not easy. I used to think to myself when talking to young men and women who had sinned with the opposite sex and think, that at least that is normal behaviour, the same sex stuff - it is like where do you start. They had not had a problem like this before so there was not a precedent as to how to handle these acts, and he wants to make sure that he does the right thing in dealing with the apostates and still not offend God. ] and he went and inquired of the Lord [ One could suppose that this prayer is more than just his daily prayer] what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God.

14 And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, [What does it mean to pour out our whole soul to God? Versions of this phrase appear 12 times in the Book Of Mormon Enos 1:9; Mosiah 14:2; 24:12; 24:21; 26:14; Alma 18:14; 34:26; 46:17; 58:10; Hel 7:11; 7:14; Morm 3:12 Alma is trying to solve the problems of the church - praying pretty hard for answers and it is during this process that his relationship with God is changed - Mosiah 26:15-20. ] the voice of the Lord came to him, [ So Alma begins to receive revelation to deal with the situtation at hand. Note here that it was not until Alma poured out his whole soul, gave everything to the Lord, that the answer came. He had to come to the point that "Hey God, I am lost , I do not know, what to do, and I think that I will never know without help from you!". True power comes when we give everything and hold nothing back, because if we still think that we might have the answer then the LOrd will be patient with us until we are ready for whatever the answer is to be. ] saying:

15 Blessed art thou, Alma, [Why is Alma blessed? He has come forth with true charity, all he wants is to do what God would have him do for his children. 1)Because he simply believed in the words of Abinadi, and after believing he because of his faith he went forward and did the Lords will. 2) Because he has built the church - he is the one the Lords has chosen - the Lord has forgiven him and chosen him - So what else matters? Is there a lesson for us here? What is it? What is the blessing given to Alma? vs20 calling and election made sure] and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi. [ You are the one that I have chosen, your repentance is real because you believed in thise words, and you have been faithful ]

16 And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them.

17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; [ You were called to lead this people - you have also gone forth preaching the gospel despite persecution - you have not been influenced by what everyone has said you have just done it , and are commended for that] and they shall be established, and they shall be my people. [ The Lord is reasuringq Alma that everything will be alright, that we will get thru this. ]

18 Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine. [ What does it mean to be mine? see vs 22-24 He atoned for the sins of those that are his, he will freely forgive them of their sins - that they will have a place at his right hand - they will inherit with him all that our father has. ]

19 And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.

20 Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; [ This is a covenant between God and Alma so we could assume that the lord has made Alma’s calling and election sure, since Alma is to a point in his life where he has completely submitted his will to the will of the Lord – and will do nothing contrary to that will. How do you think this message from the Lord would make Alma feel? How would it make you feel? Is all done once we have received the more sure word of prophecy or having our calling an election made sure? No because what is said of him after that - for thou shalt serve me - I know what thou will do. This is a really interesting covenant here. My personal thoughts are that Alma has gotten to a point now with God that he knows how to ask and it will be given - Like Joseph Smith did. I assume that it is at this point that his prayer for Alma the younger becomes a little different because of his relationship with the Lord - With this promise of eternal life, Alma the Elder's power to draw down appropriate grace from his Heavenly Father became very great. And now his prayers and those of King Mosiah bring an angel to these rebellious sons, and you know the rest of that story. Later, this redeemed younger Alma will exert this same saving influence over his erring missionary son, Corianton. ] and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep.

21 And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; [ My sheep are those that respond to my voice (Savior speaking). ] and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.

22 For behold, this is my church; [ Mine elect, my people are those that hear my voice and harden not their hearts D&C 29:7 that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. Moses 7:62 - among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name - 3 Nephi 18:16 it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel - 3 Nephi 27:8 for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do 3 Nephi 27:21. these are my chosen (cf. Isa. 43:20, Moses 1:26), these are mine elect (cf. Isa. 45:4, D&C 29:7, Moses 7:62), these are my people (v. 17, 32, Exod. 3:7, Isa. 51:16) ] whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive. [ vs 18 those that have elected to be his are the ones he atoned for the other that are not his are on their own. ]

23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. [ See Mosiah 5:7-9 ]

24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand. [ Or on the favored side, the side side that provides ALL of the blessings that he has to give. ]

25 And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. [ To be judged. ]

26 And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, [ Everyone will come to know this at some time. ] that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.

27 And then I [ God. ] will confess unto them that I never knew them; [ Because they would not come to him, they would not take upon them his name, they did not repent, they would not change their character to be like his, and as a result they were not his. At the end it will matter first if you have accepted Christ or not(this is only the first step, to accept him). If you have then the atonement can be applied, if not then there is NO atonement for you at all. ] and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

28 Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not hear my voice, [ If you do not hear his voice means that they are not listening to and even trying to do what he has asked them to do. ] the same shall ye not receive into my church, [ Mine elect, my people are those that hear my voice and harden not their hearts D&C 29:7 that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. Moses 7:62 - among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name - 3 Nephi 18:16 it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel - 3 Nephi 27:8 for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do 3 Nephi 27:21 ] for him I will not receive at the last day.

29 Therefore I say unto you, [ ALMA: He is going to receive instruction on how and who to judge, and how to gain forgiveness from sin. ] Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; [ Alma is given the direction by the Lord to look at the sins committed by individuals and then judge those individuals who have sinned, first by asking them to confess and asking for forgiveness. ] and if he confess his sins before thee and me, [What does it mean to confess between thee and me? First part of repentance is to get strait with man(those whom you have offended) and strait with God - just asking God for forgiveness is not always enough - sometimes we need to tell the bishop(because the good name of the church has been effected), sometimes we need to tell the one(s) that we offended. What part does confession play in repentance? ] and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, [ What is difference between sincerely repenting and just saying that you are sorry? Two approaches when people come to the Bishop. One is to simply lay everything out there on the table and say I accept whatever the Lord feels that needs to be done on my behalf. The others try to lay a little out there and then want to know what my punishment would be for this, if it is not too bad then they will lay out a little more. It is almost like they are asking for a friend. ] him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also. [ This DOCTRINE HERE is one of the toughtest doctrines to accept. We often believe that Christ can forgive others, but as for me well no. How many times did I have to deal with that as a Bishop. We have to trust God in EVERY WORD that he says: which includes that we can be forgiven for our sin, we have to not just believe in God but we have to belive God. And God has the final say - PERIOD. There is no such thing as “damaged goods” in the Celestial Kingdom. Do not live your life in guilt. Once you have completely repented. Let the Savior do His job. He is the one who atoned. Your sins are in His care now. Do not try to do His job by living in guilt. Accept His atonement completely, gratefully, and then do what He has asked: ]

30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

31 And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his ^bneighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation. [What is the condemnation that those who do not forgive will be under? Their sins will not be forgiven by the Lord. What examples do we have from the life of Alma the younger about forgiveness by the Lord? Alma is later made the prophet so the Lord does not hold anything against Alma. What examples do we have from Nephites and Alma the younger about forgiveness? The people sustain Alma as their High Priest and elect him Chief judge later on Mos 29:42. What lessons does this provide for us? Some years ago a prominent man was excommunicated from the Church. He, years later, pleaded for baptism. President John Taylor referred the question of his baptism to the apostles, stating [in a letter] that if they unanimously consented to his baptism, he could be baptized, but that if there was one dissenting vote, he should not be admitted into the Church. As I remember the vote, it was five for baptism and seven against. A year or so later the question came up again and it was eight for baptism and four against. Later it came up again and it was ten for baptism and two against. Finally all of the Council of the Apostles, with the exception of your humble servant, consented that this man be baptized and I was then next to the junior member of the quorum. Later I was in the office of the president and he said:

“Heber, I understand that eleven of the apostles have consented to the baptism of Brother so and so,” naming the man, “and that you alone are standing out. How will you feel when you get on the other side and you find that this man has pleaded for baptism and you find that you have perhaps kept him out from entering in with those who have repented of their sins and received some reward?”

I said, “President John Taylor, I can look the Lord squarely in the eye, if he asks me that question, and tell him that I did that which I thought was for the best good of the kingdom. … I can tell the Lord that [that man] had disgraced this Church enough, and that I did not propose to let any such a man come back into the Church.”

“Well,” said President Taylor, “my boy, that is all right, stay with your convictions, stay right with them.”

I said, “President Taylor, your letter said you wanted each one of the apostles to vote the convictions of his heart. If you desire me to surrender the convictions of my heart, I will gladly do it; I will gladly vote for this man to come back, but while I live I never expect to consent, if it is left to my judgment. That man was accused before the apostles several years ago and he stood up and lied and claimed that he was innocent, and the Lord gave to me a testimony that he lied, but I could not condemn him because of that. I got down on my knees that night and prayed God to give me the strength not to expose that man, seeing that he had lied but that we had no evidence, except only the testimony of the girl that he had seduced. And I prayed the Lord that some day additional testimony might come, and it did come, and we then excommunicated him. And when a man can lie to the apostles, and when he can be guilty while proclaiming repentance of sin, I think this Church has been disgraced enough without ever letting him come back into the Church.”

“Well,” repeated President Taylor, “my boy, don’t you vote as long as you live, while you hold those ideas, stay right with them."

I left the president’s office. I went home. … I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants through for the third or fourth time systematically, and I had my bookmark in it, but as I picked it up, instead of opening where the bookmark was, it opened to:

“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men; but he that forgiveth not his brother standeth condemned before the Lord.” [See D&C 64:9–10.]

And I closed the book and said: “If the devil applies for baptism, and claims that he has repented, I will baptize him.” After lunch I returned to the office of President Taylor and I said, “President Taylor, I have had a change of heart. One hour ago I said, never while I live, did I expect to ever consent that Brother so and so should be baptized, but I have come to tell you he can be baptized, so far as I am concerned.” ]

32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; [ So Alma judge the people as I have instructed and those who will not repent shall not be part of the church. Just as is the responsibility of a bishop today. ] and this shall be observed from this time forward.

33 And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words he wrote them down that he might have them, [Why does he write these words down? consistency - he wrote the first priesthood manual - that the church might opperate 1) according to the will of God as these were his instructions to Alma; and 2) that the church might also opperate consistently from ward to ward on how to hand these matters from this time forward. ] and that he might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God.

34 And it came to pass that Alma went and judged [ Just like Nephi of old he went and did as commanded. ] those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord.

35 And whosoever repented of their sins and did confess them, them he did number among the people of the church;

36 And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out. [ They were excommunicated because they would not admit to their sins and seek repentance. ]

37 And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many.

38 And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, [ From the unbelievers – those who were not doing as they knew that they should. So it is today – when people are held accountable for their actions it sharpens the distinction between the parties – it polarizes the people around them. ] being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God. [ Not much different than today the judgments of God either bring people closer to him or create a greater divide. Those who accept and those who do not grow further apart, as such the persecution of those that have been judged begets resentment, and they turn to persecution in every manner that they can impose. ]

39 And they did admonish their brethren; and they were also admonished, [ 1) to warn or notify of a fault; to reprove with mildness 2) to counsel against wrong practices 3) to instruct or direct 4) in ecclesiastical affairs~ to approve a member of the church for fault ~ either publicly or privately. ] every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.