They taught with power and authority of God – Alma 17:2–3 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize and Commentary
2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
These verses fill my soul with such incomprehensible joy, because we, too, have this great opportunity to prepare ourselves that we too can have the Spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when we teach, we can teach with power and authority of God. Bruce R. McConkie put it this way:
“Now we are the agents and representatives of the Lord. He has given us the fullness of his everlasting gospel. The heavens have been opened in our day. The voice of God is heard again. Angels have come from his presence. Keys and power, authority and priesthood have been given again to mortal men, and once again we have all of the laws and the prerogatives and possess all of the powers that are needed to save and exalt a human soul. We have in this kingdom, in this church, the keys of the kingdom of God, the keys of salvation for all men everywhere.
“And he has given us the same commission that he gave to people in ancient days who had similar powers, and that commission is to carry his word to all the world and make salvation available to all his children everywhere. Now this places upon us the obligation of learning how we are going to do this thing, this thing of such incomparable and transcendent magnitude. How are we going to proclaim the truths of salvation among our own people and take the message of the restoration to the world?”
It is no different for us than it was for the sons of Mosiah, who “waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth.” Wax goes from a liquid to a solid mass, so wax means to grow or increase, and then the word paired with it shows what grew or increased. The sons of Mosiah grew strong, not just incremental growth, but great growth in the knowledge of truth, and Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). They grew strong in the knowledge of Christ.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave us this insight in his talk, “Bearers of Heavenly Light:”
“If you open your mind and heart to receive the Light of Christ and humbly follow the Savior, you will receive more light. Line upon line, here a little and there a little, you will gather more light and truth into your souls until darkness has been banished from your life.”
We also learned that the sons of Mosiah “were men of a sound understanding.” To have a sound understanding, one must have a sound mind which is equivalent to a sober mind. The great prophet Mormon also had a sober mind.
Mormon 1:15
And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.
To understand what makes a sound or sober mind, we start in James 1:5, where the Lord says that He “giveth to all men liberally.” But let us not stop there, for the key to receiving such knowledge from God is in the next three verses.
James 1:6–8
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
We live in a world where the spiritual wind is raging. Satan is pulling out all of his best plays and players to get us to be driven and tossed in every and which way, “insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).
We must develop sound minds that are not driven and tossed, but that are “firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord” ( 3 Nephi 6:14). As we do this, we will be able to be taught by the Lord.
Now let’s look at the formula that the sons of Mosiah used to develop this sound mind and understanding. They “searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God,” and they “[gave] themselves to much prayer, and fasting.”
They didn’t just read the scriptures to check off a box, or say they read the scriptures for the 10th time, but rather they searched them diligently because they wanted to know the word of God for themselves and to be able to teach it to others. These next verses explain how badly they wanted to bring the Gospel light into the lives of all men. I feel that it is very instructive to read these verses in reverse order.
Mosiah 28:4, 3
4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever.
3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.
For this purpose they searched the scriptures and gave themselves to much fasting and prayer. Because of their righteous desires and the great efforts they made to qualify for the Spirit of God “they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.” And we are so blessed to know of the great fruit of their labors in these words:
Alma 23:5–6
5 And thousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord…
6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.
How great was their joy, for they brought the good news of the Gospel of Christ into the hearts of thousands and they “never did fall away.”
What will our desires and labors bring to our hearts? If we want to teach “with power and authority of God,” as the sons of Mosiah did, we must do as they did, and search the scriptures diligently, give ourselves to must fasting and prayer, and develop sound minds where we can “wax strong in the knowledge of the truth,” and be taught from on high.
Craig
Social Media Posts – Additional Commentary
What a glorious day we live in. We have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all things are possible for us, if we will but believe and follow Christ with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. Let us move forward boldly and with full confidence, relying sorely upon Christ and He will one day lift us up and exalt us.
We have in our possession the greatest and most complete knowledge ever known to mankind, and that knowledge is the knowledge of salvation, which is made possible only through God’s only Begotten son, Jesus Christ. The world needs this knowledge more than ever, and we have been commissioned to bring it to the world. As we take this knowledge to the world, we will also be gathering scattered Israel. And speaking of this gathering, our prophet said this:
“There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing. This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.”
Evaluate yourselves, by asking these two questions: 1. How are you doing in this gathering? 2. What can you do more, today, to be more engaged in this gathering, and to bring this great knowledge of salvation to all of God’s children?
Recent Comments