"because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity"

 Helaman 3

We tend to think of "exceedingly great riches" in verse 36 as that which is comparable in society to that which is held by the multi-millionaires, or billionaires in our country today: those who live in great wealth. But actually, when taking into consideration the world-wide economy, and poverty levels, it refers to the wealth that is held by  ANYONE who has enough money to pay rent, feed and clothe their family, and who has access to medical care.  If I and my family fall into this category, this verse is a serious warning for me:

"And it came to pass that the fifty and second year ended in peace also, save it were the exceedingly great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people; and it was because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity in the land; and it did grow up on them from day to day."

This warning is not just aimed at what we term "the rich and famous" whose pride turns their hearts to selfishness, increasing wealth, public approval and dismissiveness towards the challenges faced by those in society who cannot feed, clothe and house their families without outside assistance. It is aimed at ANYONE who has enough to support their family and who also engages in that selfishness, or whose focus is on wealth accumulation, or is not engaged, in some consistent way, in helping to assist those in need.

Pointing fingers is counterproductive. No matter what our profession, our status in society, our political inclinations, or our level of income, if I am making enough money to provide the basic needs of our family, this warning of the possibility of falling into the sin of pride is for me to consider.

The tragic slide from dissent, to outrage, to fear, ...to war

 "...there were dissenters who went up...and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger...and they were all that year preparing for war."

~ Helaman 4

Corianton and the second worst sin that isn't what you might have been told it is

  Before we begin, we need to define something:

Definition of "spiritual death":  "spiritual death" comes as a result of our own disobedience. Our sins make us unclean and unable to dwell in the presence of God. Through His perfect Atonement for sin, Jesus Christ offers us redemption from this spiritual death.

Knowing Christ and his infinite atonement, the process of repentance and ongoing humble efforts to live a disciples life, on our part, creates connection with God and leads to forgiveness of sin and to spiritual life.

           **************************

People tend to assume that Corianton’s one big sin was extramarital sexual relations.

It wasn’t (even though that is a sin).

Let’s parse out the statements made by Alma, Corianton’s father, in verses in Alma 39.

Corianton’s father calls him out on five sins:

a) verse 2: boasting in his strength and wisdom (pride)

b) verse 3: forsaking the ministry (abandoning the work God has called him to do)

c) verse 3: seeking out the services of a harlot (extramarital sexual relations)

d) verse 3 and 4: excusing his extramarital sexual relations by saying that many other people were doing it (justification of sin)

e) verse 4: doing all of the above when he was in a calling that involved preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ with his father and brothers.

Alma uses the plural “these things”, not “this thing” in verse 5 when referring to what Coriantion has done. It’s not just a single sin.

And Alma says that this combination is not as serious as murdering someone, or denying the Holy Ghost (Joseph Smith defined the latter as “have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against Him. . . . He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to describe  the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 358). But Alma does  say that it’s nearly as bad. (verse 5).

In  verse 6, Alma gives a name to what has resulted from Corianton’s combination of sins that he has indulged in.  He calls it “murdering against the light and knowledge of God”.

So, what exactly is "murdering against the light and knowledge of God"?

Alma knows what that sin is because he, himself, fell into a variation of that sin as a young man. (Alma chapter 36) Writing about the fomenting of antipathy and prejudice and derision against Christ and His gospel and His church, which fomenting he, himself, actively engaged in when he was  a young man, he wrote, “Yea, and I had  murdered many of  his [God’s]  children, or rather, had led them  away unto destruction”.  (Alma 36:14)

We tend to think of Alma’s persecution of believers when he was younger only in terms of the hurt it caused to believers.  And we overlook the fact that he was also actively acting in a way that encouraged others who were truth seekers to not want to have anything to do with the church that embraced the gospel. In his case, he was committing two sins, the second one as a result of the first.

Those were: 1) fomenting and encouraging derision and persecution of church members and 2) making anyone’s conversion an automatic opening to being persecuted in pretty nasty ways.  

If that’s going on in your town, you are likely to be either 1) lured into joining the thrill of engaging in arrogant persecution of others (in this case, pesrcutin believers) and/or 2) totally uninterested in the gospel of Jesus Christ that Alma had been deriding because you see the persecution that would be heaped upon you if you do start learning it. Either one of those two courses of action will result in your falling  into “being led toward destruction” (which Alma also called being “murdered”)  rather than being led toward  salvation (“everlasting life”). Alma is talking about the results of his actions fostering spiritual death: further distancing oneself from recognizing embracing Jesus Christ and salvation.

Alma is referring to how his words and actions as a young man had made it significantly harder for people to recognize or embrace the truth of the gospel and of salvation.  He is saying that Corianton’s sins, though different from his own sins, have caused and resulted in the same damage to others that his own sinful  actions did.

 We sometimes recognize this Corianton effect in our society today.  For example: Imagine a pastor of a large community church in your  town or city who, having committed himself to spreading the word of God engages in the activity of advertising and publishing information about the church, inviting all and anyone to attend those church services, and preaches the gospel, and encourages  its  members to share their faith with others, (in other words, preaching the word and engaged in missionary work). And then, imagine that a little later, it then becomes apparent to all that this pastor has been caught actively soliciting the services of a highly sought after prostitute in the next town over.

What happens? Naturally, suddenly, almost no one in your town is inclined, at all, to listen to the gospel he preached or attend the church in which he serves.  And it is likely that many who were in his congregation will abandon it out of the sense of  betrayal and deception that they experience from the pastor’s duplicity, his abandonment of the ministry while still claiming religious authority, and his involvement in activity that is generally known to be totally contrary to what he was preaching.  The pastor’s actions have attacked, and in some cases completely killed (murdered) whatever level of faith or interest in the gospel unbelievers may have had or might have been inclined to explore.

God’s whole work is to bring forth the happiness, salvation, and eternal life of His children.  The pastor’s actions do not only affect himself, they create a mega setback in the process of increasing light and enlightenment and comprehension of many of His beloved children who heard his preaching or and understood that he was taking on the role of disciple and minister of God. And God does not  take such actions lightly.

And  Alma is very clear about that in his words to Corianton:

“Oh,, my son,  how great iniquity you brought among the Zoramites;  for when  they saw your conduct, [playing the role of a disciple and called and set apart as minister  representing the Lord, and simultaneously indulging in sins that show that your integrity and honesty is not to be trusted] they would not believe in my words.

“And the Spirit  of the Lord doth say unto  me: Command they children to do good, lest they lead  away the hearts of many people to destruction: therefore I command you, my son,  that ye  refrain  from your iniquities (plural); that ye turn to the Lord with all your mind, might and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly,  and acknowledge your faults and that wrong which ye have done.”(Alma 39:11–13)

It is not fornication or adultery that is “most abominable above all sins  save it be the shedding of innocent blood  or denying the Holy Ghost” (vs. 5), though those are serious sins.  Rather, Alma declares what he has been talking about is the sin of consciously acting  with duplicity and actively choosing to commit sins (five specific ones in Corianton's case that seriously erode trust) when you have been specifically called and have committed yourself to represent God’s work and love and faithfulness. 

 Alma knows that indulging in sin while one is representing oneself  as a minister and follower of Christ (which mission and calling Corianton was called to and serving in)  makes it extremely hard, if not nearly impossible,  for other of God’s children  to trust your words about Him and the salvation and truth that He offers to them.

Knowing God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and the amazing gift of Christ's atonement for our sins is the foundation and of eternal life.  (John 17:3)  The act of committing sins that actively thwart the gaining of that knowledge on the part of others (be those sins  Alma’s sins, or Corianton’s sins, or any others) is the serious accusation that Alma lays at his son's feet.

Alma knows, from personal experience, the consequences of doing that.

He is explaining the seriousness and reality of that sin of  "murdering of many of  his [God’s] children, or rather, leading them  away unto destruction", in this case the specific group of consciously chosen unrighteous decisions and sinful actions that had resulted in Corianton commiting that sin.

The sin second in awfulness to actions that hasten the physical death of another (murder) is not the sin of fornication or adultery. 

It looks to me that, in reality, Alma is saying that the sin second to actions that hasten the physical death of someone else (murder)  is the sin of engaging in sinful actions that further the spiritual death of someone else. 

Stuff

 For me to consider:

"The bottom line is this: You can’t take your stuff with you. And chances are, when you get to the end of your life, you’re not going to wish you had more of it. Moments of connection, beauty, and generosity are the “things” worth collecting as we journey through life.

"Consider Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 6:7: 'For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.'

"Or Francis of Assisi’s words: “When you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received—only what you have given.”

~ Julia Ubbenga, "Rich in What Matters"

"In about 50 years, you’ll be gone. They’ll sell your stuff at a garage sale. Or toss it in a dump. But, your kids will still be around—even your grandkids. They won’t remember your stuff. But they’ll remember you. Pursue the things that matter 200 years from now."
~ Jared Lopez

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Know history. What do we learn from previous perilous times? How do we prepare?

Germany - Italy - Japan, 1934 - 1938    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany–Japan_relations)

Ninety years later:  

Russia - North Korea - China, 2024 - ?

Sobering.

Being reminded of my baptismal covenants

An Except from "Friends of the Last Supper",  by Sarah Perkins 

 I think there is some tendency to talk about baptismal covenants in individual terms. Your sins are washed away. The Spirit will guide you in your life. It’s a step in your development of following Jesus’ example and hoisting yourself towards heaven. And that’s not inaccurate. But I think it is incomplete.

If Alma’s sermon (which, for my money is the most moving treatise on baptism in all of scripture) is any indication, taking the name of Jesus upon you is less about living a super righteous life than it is about putting yourself on the roads that Jesus walked, and committing to the same work of mourning, comforting, bearing, suffering. It’s about becoming involved with the marginalized, the sinful, the broken, the sad.

Of course, we’re not always very good at it. So we recommit ourselves every week.

Every week, we gather together like the friends of the last supper. We eat together, sing together, worship together, try together to be more like Jesus, and commit ourselves once more to His work, knowing we will fail again. Inevitably, we will betray, deny, reject, squabble, and have to come back to the table once again the next week to face each other and our God with dirty feet. The sacrament, like baptism, is an exercise in committing ourselves to a community as broken, imperfect, and beloved as we are.

Still, we try to call each other friends, brother, sister, and to really believe it. We break the bread into as many pieces as it takes to feed everyone, with some left over — five loaves feeding 5,000. And after the prayer, we carry this work out the chapel and into the world, a world bursting at the seams with capacious beauty and cruelty.

I looked at these precious children [in our Primary class]. There’s so much ahead of them. So much joy and sorrow. Life and death. Grieving and rejoicing. My time with them is so brief. Ten years from now when their life becomes heavy, they won’t remember me.

But they will find people. Strangers who will sit with them, and sing with them, and worship with them. Strangers who will call them friend, brother, sister, and try to make it so. Strangers who will break the bread and pour the water again and again until everyone is fed and their cups runneth over. This is the promise and the miracle of Christianity.

At the end of class, we helped our primary kiddos translate this scripture:

As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death.

This is what we came up with:

It seems that you want to join the church and be called a Christian. This is what that takes: help people carry what is hard in their lives, share their happiness and sadness, try to feel their sorrows, try to be a support and to be like Jesus wherever you are and whoever you are with for however long you live.

Commentary on Doctrine and Covenants 132 (it's really long) Just thinking and parsing some verses

 Doctrine and Covenants 132

verse 15 

Therefore, if a ^aman marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world.

A marriage ceremony that creates a marriage that is "not by me nor by my word", i.e. that is neither confirmed by God nor reflective of His word (His gospel, which is anchored in love of God and love fellow men, ) is not a marriage that He will force anyone to honor in the next life.  And this reflects what is written in verse 7, that covenants made that are not "sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise" are not enforced in the next life.  You are not bound by that marriage ceremony, you are not forced to continue the marriage.

"Sealed", in Websters 1828 dictionary, is defined as "having the seal or stamp of authority placed upon it"  in that edition which was from the same era as the writing of this section of the Doctrine and Covenants.  However, for some reason in our common speaking of sealing ordinances in the temple we have reduced the definition to a 20th century definition of sealing. We 21st century folks tend to think only of it in terms of being "attached, glued, connected" or "being together forever" rather than the marriage "being recognized authoritatively by God as righteous and good".  Probably an error on our part.  

Marriage sealings in the temple do not bind people to be together forever, rather they signify that the couple is committed to creating a marriage that would meet godly standards of love and holiness and are commencing that journey, seeking God's blessings and approval as they do so,  (some of which blessings are sealed upon them in that ceremony conditional upon their individual faithfulness to God).

verse 16

Therefore, if a ^aman marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world.

If you married a spouse and you neither married him or her with God's approval, nor did you create a marriage that reflects His word, His gospel of faith, hope and charity, then neither one of you is obligated (bound) to remain married to each other after this life.

verse 17

Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in ^amarriage; but are appointed angels in ^bheaven, which angels are ministering ^cservants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.

17 For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are ^aangels of God forever and ever.

Joseph Smith taught that an angel is a "resurrected or translated body, with its spirit, ministering to embodied spirits" (embodied spirits are what you and I are here, on earth.).  (Conference discourse  delivered Sunday 3 October 1841, summarized in Times and Seasons 15 October 1841) The scriptures teach that, when we receive resurrection, we will receive glory that reflects our nature, be that celestial, terrestrial, or telestial (Doctrine and Covenants 76:70-81). If that is so, then these verses about marrying and giving in marriage are talking about a stage of existence that is BOTH post mortality AND post-resurrection. 

The scriptures also teach that the period between our mortal death and our resurrection for the vast majority of us is very long, and that we will spend a lot of time continuing to learn and grow and develop into the kind of person we really want to be.  So, it seems that these verses that talk about angels remaining separately and singly  are describing  a period of time that is after one's experience with Millennium and after one's resurrection (and the judgment that comes with resurrection).  

The Millennium blessedly affords us the the opportunity for more time to learn and grow in light and love.  That's a marvelous help to us as we seek to continue to learn and love as God does. 

It looks like verse 17, which is about angels, is referring to experiences and ways of being that occur post-resurrection (aka post judgment), and not during our time as spirits still learning during the Millennium. 

So it seems likely that the "angels [who] did not abide my law [and] therefore they cannot be enlarged but remain singly..." refers to individuals who, even after a Millenium of growth and change, have discovered that marriage for eternity with all of it's work, joy, grief, effort, responsibility, and care on a scale far greater that what an earthly marriage experience can be, means an eternity of marriage with all the challenges and sorrow (as well as joy) on an exalted scale and that it may not what they think, or God knows, is best for them.  

Some people think of eternal marriage in a celestial existence as an eternity of bliss.  It does include joy, for sure, but, if you read God's experiences with his unruly children on earth, you also learn that a God's life on a universal scale also includes a tremendous amount of sorrow over His children as He witnesses the destruction and hatred and violence that they way too often descend into on earth.  He weeps.  And miscreants "experience his wrath". His existence is not just bliss.

verse 18

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that ^acovenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; 

If a man marries a wife, and makes a covenant with her for all eternity, and it is not approved by God, and does not include living lives that reflect God's word, his counsel and teachings about living a godly, loving, forgiving etc. etc. life, and also is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (the sealing power of the Holy Spirit is the power given to the Holy Spirit to ratify and approve the righteous acts of men and women so that those acts will be binding on earth and heaven), the marriage will not be binding after death.  God does not obligate people to be married.  He offers opportunities to create a heavenly marriage (see commentary on verse 17), but he does not obligate his children to stay in a marriage that is not based and lived on righteous principles and actions and thoughts.

verse 19

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man ^amarry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the ^bnew and everlasting covenant, and it is ^csealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of ^dpromise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the ^ekeys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection;...it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world;

On the other hand, if a marriage is  lived according God's law AND according to the gospel of love and faith and hope taught by Jesus Christ (the new and everlasting covenant) AND sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (see above, that's critical) then that marriage may become the kind of marriage that has the strength that can last throughout eternity in amazing ways, far beyond our earthly comprehension and survive immense challenges, responding always with wisdom, love and full attention.  (Which state of marriage, I would posit, many, many, many of us will not have enough time, or wisdom or experience to create in this life even if we wish for it. I've been living and loving for decades with a terrific husband and I am still clearly not there yet. Which makes me believe that if we do wish for it, we will be grateful for a millennium of time to try, with God's grace, to create it.)

It all makes sense considering God's amazing grace, and even more if you remember one other thing.

For some reason some people believe that the above messages about marriage indicate that if you do not fall into the category of "marriage lived according to God's law and the new and everlasting covenant, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise" you won't be together, even if you still are both good friends, or love each other, and both might wish to continue your good relationship.  

But that can't be correct, simply because we are also told that "the same sociality that exists among us here [earth life], will exist among us there [post-earth life] only it will be accompanied by eternal glory" Doctrine and Covenants 130:2. And, according to Doctrine and Covenants 76: 70-81) eternal glory, its various degrees, comes with resurrection. (Doctrine and Covenants 76:70-81)  

If this is true, then the experience of judgment and resurrection (the latter of which is always accompanied by eternal glory of various types) does not create forced loss of "sociality".  We are still free to choose to connect with those we love to spend time with (and who enjoy it too).

(Heavenly angels appearing to mere mortal earthly types is just one example of many that belies that false assumption of imposed separation between God's children who are at various stages of righteousness or wickedness or glory in their eternal existence.)