#31 Firm in the Faith of Christ

Alma 43-52

There is so much action in these chapters and tons of great, fun stuff in these chapters and there is no way to cover it all. We've heard some, if not all of these stories before and there is much to be learned from them, but 1 scripture stood out to me in all this fabulous reading. Mormon is the author of this scripture. It's one of those versus he inserts where he states his observances and opinions.

The verse is 48:17 "if all men were like Moroni-the powers of hell would be shaken forever!"
and "Devil never would have power over us!
So I thought wow-to never have satan' s influence in my life would be great!!! So if I need to be like Moroni to have that happen I better know a little about what makes Moroni who he is. We've heard the stories about him, how he conquered all his enemies and won great battles, but we don't always examine what helped him to conquer, what made him who he was on and off the battlefield.

*We are also on the battlefield of life, we are battling evil in our lives everyday, so if we are to conquer our battles we need to be like Moroni, so we are going through these chapters and find all the qualities Moroni had so that we can work on having them in our own lives. And if you already have them, great-now we need to refine them!

43:17 Moroni was 25 yrs. old. This is pretty young to have done all that he did, this tells me that he didn't wait for age to give him wisdom, experience, leadership skills and a great thinker. He worked hard to get that at a young age. He was constantly "doing" to become who he was a such a young age.
43:18 He had the Nephites armed with the usual weapons of war but he also knew the importance of preserving and protecting their own bodies from harm. Unlike the Lamanites who came to battle in loin cloths. We've studied armor and what it means physically as well as spiritually, so we won't go there, but think about what that means, how he armed them.
43:23 This shows his heart and where it is at. War can be horrible and it can turn men into animals, but Moroni does something that helps him keep perspective. Yes, he sends spies, but more importantly he checks with the prophet of God for knowledge and how to best fight with advantage.
*In our day we are going through our own battles and wars. Do we ever stop to check what our prophets have said concerning matters of difficulty-how to best fight off satan in our own lives and then apply it?

-Lamanites were fierce and it was scaring the Nephites
43:48 But Moroni knew his men so well that he could perceive their thoughts. He know what to say to inspire them.
43:49 He inspires them to pray for help and guidance during a difficult time.
*Do we know our neighbors, people we work with in callings, jobs, people we visit teach well enough to know when they need help, advise or just a friend?

43:54 Lamanites are being slaughtered and were surrounded. Moronit saw that they were frightened. He could have kept up the slaughter, he stops his men from shedding blood. He knows when to quit and extend mercy. He isn't a blood thirsty man.

* How do we shed blodd or take the life out of people today? Gossip? I have seen people loose their wills to fight and their love of life just because rumors-true or not have been spred-Moroni knew when to extend mercy and a hand of love and fellowship to lamanites. In chpter 44 he extends that and asks for a covenant of peace. Zerahemnah, their leader, refuses.

44:1-4 Moroni testifies to them. He stands as a witness at all times. He could've said "surrender or you are dead meat" instead he testifies of God and where their strength comes from. Can you picture the men, his men are strengthened and uplifted by these words, kind of like "na na" we are strong and we know why and you don't. And the enemy? Well they probably had a reflective moment in which they had to agree and really wonder if what he was saying was true, and if the spirit worked in any of them at all, Moroni was an instrument in planting that seed.

*Can we bare testimony in fast and testimony meeting? That will boost us as well as others. What about baring testimony to friends. Friends vent occassionally, instead of getting fired up with them and sharing our woes, can we testify what got us through a similar situation? Which method would work best?
*In class a couple of weeks ago one of you mentioned that in tough times families can bond together and share gospel principles as we go through struggles and tough times. That comment was a strength to me as I caught some perspective that I can use in my own life right now.

44:16 Zerahemnah is exceedingly wroth to anger. He has hate in his veins for Nephites and Moroni In next verse we can see the difference between a righteous man and a non-righteous man.
44:17 Moroni was angry at stubborness of Lamanites, but not the Lamanites themselves. He still loved them as people.
* We can be angry at what our neighbors and kids may do but, we still need to love the person and extend that mercy often.

In ch. 46 we meet another enemy, Amalakiah another apostate Nephite, who rises up and wants power and to be king.
46:11 Moroni gets angry again but he does something about it, rather than sit and stew.
46:12 This is where he rents his coat and reminds his people why they don't want a king, that we enjoy our freedoms, and rights and we need to be willing to fight for them.
46:13 &16 He prays for freedom
46:19-20 He doesn't stop there-He goes forth having the people make a covenant to fight and uphold freedoms they all enjoy.
46:21 People came running Not walking slowly, running to make that covenant. do we have this kind of patriotism? Our gov't system is messed up, but we should still stand for truth and righteousness when we can! Do we do all we can to keep our freedoms or do we let someone else take care of it, and adopt that apathetic attitude?

Amalikiah flees and goes to Lamanites he becomes King by steadily killing their leaders and then finally the king and weaseling his way into the throne. But all the while Moroni is making his own preparations-not trying to nominate himself king but preparing all around him.
What does he do 1st?

48:7 He prepares their minds, Helaman and Siblon and Corianton were all part of this process as well, I'm sure, as they prepared the people spiritually.
*How does preparing our minds now in times of peace help us during our times of battle?
Does anyone have an example?

I have noticed that because most if not all of you come to church on fast sunday, having fasted and prepared your minds the testimonies and our class have a strong spirit. stronger than any other sunday. I know that preparing our minds helps us in all aspects of our lives and not just on sunday!

48:8 Moroni strengthens armies, forts, builds walls-What can we liken this to in our own lives?
What can those, forts, walls, timbers represent? Eternal marriage, prayer, FHE, scripture study, putting ourselves in places where we feel the spirit, such as temples, firesides, etc.

48:11 Moroni was strong and mighty, a man of perfect understanding. He didn't delight in bloodshed, Remember perfect understanding means to be wise, have spiritual discernment, education, intelligence, value the scriptures, truth, wisdom of God etc.

48:12 Moroni was grateful. He labored exceedingly for the people.

*I had an experience where Keith labored exceedingly for some people this weekend. We went camping up to Tony's Grove, well we needed wood for fire, because it was pretty cold up there, well the camp host was willing to sell 4 pieces of wood for $6, we thought that was quite a rip off, so Keith liking to cut wood decided we could cut our own trees down and have it for just the work. This was enjoyable to keith and his brothers so they kept going all day until we had so much wood that the next 5 campers in our site would benefit from it. Well, we then started to see all these people who were desperate for wood come to the host several times to get wood. We felt bad for them that they were getting 4 pieces for major money. So Keith and his brother sent the kids out with wagon loads of wood to people and we sold 1 wagon load for $5 a great bargain. The people were grateful, they were getting enough wood to last at a better price, well we made enough money to pay for our site and the kids earned enough of a cut that they were pleased, I thought we should just give the wood for free, but we justified it by teaching our kids about work, entrepenuership and paying tithing. But this is a great example of laboring exceedingly for the benefit of others.
This doesn't mean you should all go cut wood for everyone but I think you are smart enough to apply it to your own situation.

48:13 Moroni was firm in the faith-What does this mean to you? To me it means you live you life through gospel principles, you can't tell the difference between where the gospel fits into your life. The Gospel is your life in every way!

48:14 He taught to defend truth but taught never to give offense or take offense. Never to pick a fight. How many of you are like me and the smallest thing can set off your defenses? We need to be more like Moroni and not waste our energy unless it is threatening our freedom, rights and privileges. But if it does threaten these things, by all means let that righteous indignation fly!

48:17 If all men were like Moroni! What if we really were all like Moroni? What would your life look like? Happy? Full of good things? Full of service? No wonder Moroni is one of the heroes of the Book of Mormon that everyone refers to. He was a great man-still is- but so are we and we are continuing to be as we learn, live, and experience what joy we can have as we put these characteristics of Moroni in our own lives. I have a testimony that as we do this the devil and powers of hell will be shaken forever and won't have any affect on us in the name of Jesus Christ AMEN!