To watch the video presentation on YouTube, go to: https://youtu.be/rV-iLCMwbyc
ICEBREAKER
I always like to begin this lesson by doing some type of simple scientific experiment, especially if you’re teaching youth. Now you want it to be brief, but exciting, and safe, so I would advise against anything with toxic chemicals or open flames. Now what you could do, is look up “easy science experiments to do at home” on YouTube and there will literally be 100 ideas you could choose from. One of the easiest and simplest you can do is called the film canister rocket. All you need is an Alka seltzer tablet, some water, and a film canister and all of these items could easily be purchased at your local Walmart or grocery store or ordered online. But what you do is you place the Alka seltzer tablet in a clear glass and ask your students what they think will happen when you pour water on it. Then pour the water and of course, it will start to fizz. You can explain that a chemical reaction is taking place between the water and the chemicals in the tablet. Then ask them what they think will happen if you isolate the reaction in the canister, and then let them guess. Then take a tablet and place it in the canister, pour a little water in, put the lid on a place it upside down. And you may want to place it on a pan or a cookie sheet because it does make a little bit of a mess and then be sure to step back and watch what happens. Now I like this one because the reaction is very very minor, but it does pop the film canister up into the air and is kind of fun.
TRANSITION
Now you’d think that the Book of Mormon, as an ancient text, would have very little to do with science. But interestingly enough, In Alma 32, Alma tells us about a very important experiment that we all need to perform in our lives. So two questions. One, can you find the word experiment in Alma 32, and can you find what the experiment is? And the word experiment is found in verse 27. Alma invites us to “awake and arouse our faculties, even to an experiment upon his words”. And what is the experiment? it's possibly one of the first experiments you ever tried in preschool and it’s found in vs 28. It’s planting a seed. Alma invites us to observe what happens when you plant a special kind of seed in a specific place. I think this is brilliant, because not only does that relate to the largely agricultural audience of his day, but by using the word experiment, also relates to the post scientific revolution world of our day. And the seed is God’s word or truth that we are going to grow by our faith. Remember that last week we talked about building our pyramid of faith and that our “I know” is built on evidence, another scientific word. So this week we’re going to answer the question “How do we build a foundation for our pyramid of faith? Or in this analogy, How do we grow our seed of faith”.
So, as Alma suggests, let’s approach this chapter as an experiment. And if you’ve ever taken a science class, you know that there is a specific method for performing an experiment. So I invite you to fill in the following experiment worksheet as we study Alma 32.
Worksheet available for download at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower
And for this experiment, there are 5 areas we are going to fill in. Fundamental Truths, Hypothesis, Procedures, Observations/Data, Conclusions. What I invite you to do is to make an effort to fill this out before we talk about it, and then we can compare our answer. So here we go.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
Well, when you do an experiment, you usually begin with the guidance of certain undeniable laws or foundational truths that have already been established. We’ll call these the FUNDAMENTALS, and I see at least 4 that Alma teaches wants us to understand before we ever even begin the experiment.
See if you can discover them by answering the following questions.
What’s the best kind of “soil" to grow your faith in? What divine quality? :12-16
What isn’t faith? :21, 26
How does God feel about you conducting this experiment? :22
Who is authorized to conduct this experiment? :23
1st question, What’s the best kind of soil to grow your faith in? According to verses 12-16
Answer. The keyword here is humility. The seed of faith grows best in the soil of humility. This seems to be a prerequisite for growing faith. I like what C.S. Lewis said about this:
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
So if you want to experiment with religious truth, you must be humble. Seeds of faith simply cannot grow in the stony soil of pride. That’s why it’s the poor Zoramites that are willing to listen to Alma’s preaching. They’ve been compelled to be humble. Now Alma makes the point that it’s better to humble ourselves than it is to be compelled to be humble, but that doesn’t matter as much, as long as you’re humble, you can begin the experiment. That’s what matters most. Faith can only grow in the fertile fields of humility.
Question #2. What isn’t faith?
Well, it’s not a perfect knowledge according to verse 21 and then verse 26 tells us that you cannot know of their surety at first unto perfection. That’s vital for us to understand right from the get-go. If I believe that faith is a perfect knowledge, then I’m probably going to get discouraged fairly quickly in my experiment. You don’t begin the experiment with a giant tree type of testimony, you begin with a seed. I’ve known a number of people, especially youth, who feel like they don’t have a testimony because they’re afraid that they can't honestly get up and say, I know. I know the church is true, I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. They feel intimidated to bear their testimony because they don’t feel like they can say that. They hear other people get up and say "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that such and such is true". That seems to plant in their minds that if they can’t say the same then they don’t have a testimony. I wish I could help them understand these verses. Faith, or a testimony, is not a perfect knowledge. I’m not sure I know exactly what a shadow of a doubt looks like, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had them in my life. I’ve faced doubts. They come but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a testimony. I feel I have a firm testimony. But faith, to be faith, must have an element of uncertainty for it to be faith. That idea is suggested in vs. 18
18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.
So fundamental 2 is to understand that faith is not a perfect knowledge, it’s a hope for things which are not seen, which are true. (vs. 21)
#3 How does God feel about you conducting this experiment?
He desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. That’s kind of a nice thing to know from the get-go, isn’t it? God wants you to know. He’s not trying to hide it, he’s not making it deliberately difficult. He is on your side and will be your advocate in the process.
And then #4 Who is authorized to conduct the experiment?
Men, women, even little children. Nobody is excluded. Anybody can grow faith, even little children. There are no favorites here. There’s no exclusive club of faith. Testimony isn’t reserved for some elite group of pre-determined individuals. All can have this experience.
And with those four fundamentals in mind. Let’s begin the experiment.
HYPOTHESIS
Now you begin every experiment with a hypothesis. A statement of assertion. And you get to choose this one. Alma’s experiment is whether the word of God is true. But this experiment will work with any number of statements of faith. You choose which one you would most like to experiment on. It could be God is real? The Book of Mormon is true? Joseph Smith was a true prophet? Russell M. Nelson is a living prophet guided by God? You choose. But whatever you choose, just be sure to phrase it in the positive. We’re trying to prove something here, not disprove it.
THE PROCEDURE
I see three things we do in verses :27-28. See if you can pick them out.
First, in :27 have a desire to believe. That’s all you need to begin the experiment. That’s the seed, that’s the particle of faith. A desire. We say "I don’t know, but I want to know." If you don’t want to know, if there’s no desire, you might as well step away from the laboratory now because you can’t grow a tree without a seed. So, do you really want to know? And are you willing to act on the answer, when you do know?
:28 the next step in our procedure actually comes up twice. Once at the end of vs27 and again at the beginning of :28. What do I need to do with my seed? I need to give it a place to grow. I’ve got to plant the seed. An unplanted seed will never grow. How can I give it a place? Depends on your hypothesis. I pray to God to find out if He’s really there. I study the Book of Mormon to find out if it’s true, I listen to and apply the prophet’s words to find out if he’s inspired, I live the commandment to find out if its the right course of action to take. These actions will give a place for the seed to grow. Like Christ said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine”. I’ve got to be willing to do something in order to know if it’s good. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Then also in verse :28 I find out where that seed must be planted. I plant it in my heart. I think that suggests that our search must come from a place of sincerity and earnestness. We can’t approach it with skepticism or incredulity. It’s got to come from the heart. Alma warns us that we must not “cast it out because of your unbelief” or “resist the spirit of the Lord”.
OBSERVATIONS
What may happen that will help you to know that the seed is good? I see four things in verse :28. Let’s list them.
It will begin to swell within your breast. Swelling motions. I think that's saying that we'll have an emotional or even physical reaction to the truth. This is the feeling part of our testimony. Alma says that we will feel something. And there are different phrases used in the scriptures to describe this emotional response. D&C 9:8 describes it as a “burning in the bosom” that causes you to feel that it is right. But that’s not the only way it’s described. Maybe you can’t relate to that one. The feelings of the Spirit are difficult to describe, so we can’t get too hung up on one description of it. President Oaks once said that he had never felt a burning in his bosom. Joseph Smith said that the spirit caused his bones to quake. Maybe we can’t relate to that one either. Paul describes the fruits of the Spirit with the words love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . . “Maybe we relate more to those words. If we feel these emotions, they're an indicator from God that the seed is good.
The second observation is that it will begin to enlarge our soul. I think this means that we will have a behavioral response to the truth. Knowing the truth should make us a better person. I know of a young lady who once described how she received her testimony of the Book of Mormon. She had prayed a number of times beforehand to know if the Book of Mormon were true and had expected a dramatic experience or overwhelming emotion. Instead, her mind was called up to reflect on how her life had changed that past year as she truly and deeply studied the Book of Mormon. She had changed. She was more patient, more righteous, happier, more helpful to her family. She reflected on how much better her life was since she had begun a serious study of the book. She didn’t have some great revelation or overwhelming feeling, but she got up from her knees with a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon, because it had enlarged her soul. That’s another way the Lord will help us to know if the seed is good.
It beginneth to enlighten my understanding. This suggests a mental response to the truth. The Spirit speaks to both heart and mind. Have you ever had that kind of experience during church, or scripture study, or in general conference, and something that is said just clicks? It just makes sense and rings true in your head. :34 says that the truth begins to expand our mind. In our last video, we talked about faith being built on reason. The principles of the gospel make logical sense. It’s reasonable to me that there is intelligence behind creation. It’s reasonable to me that the only plausible explanation for the Book of Mormon’s existence is a divine one. It’s reasonable to me that God would require an order in his priesthood. So another indicator that the seed is good, is that it will make sense to us. It will edify us. It will make us wiser.
The final observation. It will become delicious unto us. I love that description. When something is delicious, we want more of it and it goes down easy. The truths of the gospel are delicious. Eternal families, God’s love for each individual, purpose to life, a continuation of life after death, a reward of happiness in the life to come, God’s mercy and forgiveness, these truths are delicious. They are easy to digest and delicious to contemplate. It makes us happy to receive them and causes us to desire more of it. Have you ever not wanted a talk to end? Have you ever wanted a certain feeling to remain forever? Have you ever wanted to go deeper and deeper on a new truth or understanding? The gospel has become delicious to you. Another way to know the seed is a good seed.
Now if you look at the four observations, you might notice something fascinating. It spells SEED. Cool, huh? Probably just a coincidence but what a fun and easy way to remember the four things to look for as we experiment upon the word. And these observations may come in any combination of these indicators. For some, the Spirit may communicate more strongly through minds than emotions, while for others, the behavioral change may be enough to confirm their hypothesis.
CONCLUSIONS.
:29 it increases your faith. Your experiences have made your faith stronger. It's been planted and has begun to grow. It’s changed and evolved into something stronger and bigger.
:30 Now you know something. You know the seed is good. Compelling to note that Alma never uses the word true after this point, but the word good. We know that the seed is good. That may comfort some of you out there who may feel that you can’t be intellectually honest in saying that you know that it’s true. But do you know that it’s good? Perhaps you can get up and say “I know that the Book of Mormon is a good book, that it makes me feel good when I read it, that makes me a better person when I live it. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is a good church, full of good principles and good people. I know that Russell M. Nelson and the quorum of the 12 apostles are good men with sincere hearts. That is a testimony, and you can still say “I know” because you do know something. You know it’s good. That’s the beginning of faith. You have a testimony.
Verse :30 also mentions that your faith is strengthened
And then I love the words in verse 35 that we can add to the word good. Now we know that what we have experienced is
:35 Real, that it’s light, that it’s discernible, as well as good. We have had a real, enlightening, discernible experience. That’s the substance and evidence we spoke of last time.
So now, the seed has been planted, it's sprouted, and has begun to grow. But are we done? Is the great experiment over? Let’s see.
I want you to read Alma 32:35-43 with the following questions in mind.
After we’ve planted the seed, are we done? (35-36)
What kind of tree are we trying to grow? A shade tree? A decorative tree? (37)
What must we not do with our tree of faith? (36, 38)
What must we do with our tree of faith after it begins to grow? (37)
What is the name of the tree we are growing? (40)
What three repeated things are necessary for nourishing our tree? (41, 42, 43)
What blessings come to those who grow their trees? (41-42)
No, we’re not done. Alma asks if after we have tasted of this light is your knowledge is perfect. His answer: Nay. At this point, we’ve only just begun. We’ve only exercised enough faith to plant the seed long enough to know that it is good. Look how many times the word “begin”, or “beginneth” appears in this chapter. Remember our fundamentals. You don’t start with perfect faith at the beginning. You don’t go from seedling to a full-grown, climbable, giant redwood type tree, from one day to the next. You don’t build your pyramid of faith overnight. You can’t expect to go from hypothesis to law immediately. This is a process.
What kind of tree is it? It’s a fruit tree. If you’ve ever planted a fruit tree from a seed, how long does it take before you’re plucking fruit off of it? Years. Again, It takes time.
We must not lay aside our faith. We must not neglect the tree or take no thought for its nourishment. Because if we neglect it, the roots won’t sink deep, and when the sun comes out, it will scorch it, and it will wither away. We want out tree of faith to be strong, we want our pyramid of faith to endure the ages. Why do some people abandon their faith or seem to forget their past spiritual experiences? It’s because they’ve stopped nourishing the tree. They aren’t watering it, and pruning it, and digging about it, and fertilizing it. There’s no root.
So what must we do? We must nourish it with "great care" and “much care”. Once we’ve performed the initial experiment, we can’t stop searching. We continue to experiment, to gather data, to observe our experiences, to explore other truths and other hypotheses. Year after year, as we study more, worship more, learn more, feel more, experience more, eventually, the tree will bring forth fruit.
What is this fruit tree? It’s a particular kind of fruit tree. Verse 40 tells us that it’s the tree of life. So, the tree that Lehi saw in his vision so many years before actually grows right within our own hearts. That’s where it’s planted and that’s where it grows.
What is absolutely necessary to make that growth possible? The three repeated words, Faith, diligence, and patience. And verse :43 adds one more. Long-suffering. Again, Growing our testimony a process that will require work and time. So don’t get discouraged in the process. We’ve got to be patient with the growth of our faith. And diligent, and continue to have faith that it will bring forth fruit.
You get fruit. But not just any fruit. The most precious, most sweet, most white, and most pure above all other fruits. These fruits will spring up unto everlasting life and you’ll feast on them until you are filled. You will reap the rewards of all of your nourishing. What do we eat in the Celestial Kingdom? The fruit of the tree of life that we’ve been growing all our life. Maybe we'll arrive at the pearly gates and St. Peter will say, let’s go look at your tree. And maybe we walk over and there is our tree of faith. And hopefully, it’s a giant, beautiful tree of faith, laden with fruit. And he says, ahhh, you have plenty to eat here. Enjoy the fruits of your faith. But if we walk over and all there is is a scraggly, dying, or non-existent tree. Then maybe he would say, you know, we’d love to let you stay, but I’m afraid you’d starve. Hopefully, that’s not the case.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
A few questions to consider.
If you could visualize the state of your faith as a tree, what would it look like?
Have you ever experienced one of the four observations of faith? What happened?
What are you doing to nourish your tree of faith? Do you feel prompted to do something more? Will you?
What “fruits” of faith have you already experienced? What fruits do you most look forward to?
CONCLUSION
Bear your testimony of how you’re faith has been planted and grown.
ALMA 33-34
Is a continuation of Alma and Amulek’s teachings to the poor Zoramites.
ICEBREAKER
For this section, I would just ask a simple question as an icebreaker. I would ask them. What do you think is the most important thing that we accomplish in this life? And then let them answer. No right or wrongs here. Just a brief discussion. Then you can chime in and say. I believe the most important thing we can accomplish in this life is to grow a tree. But, as we spoke about in Alma 32, it’s a certain kind of tree. Then I invite a student up and say. I picture the Lord approaching every one of us before we came to earth and saying. I have a special gift for you. And we eagerly say. What is it, Lord? And he holds out his hand and in it is a tiny seed. And I actually do hand the student a tiny seed. And then maybe we look at little quizzically at the Lord for a second until he says “This is no ordinary seed, it’s a seed to the tree of life.” I want you to plant it in your heart, nourish it for a lifetime and one day it will bring forth wonderful fruit to you. And he hands you the seed. And then you have a question. It’s the same question the Zoramites ask in Alma 33:1.
TRANSITION
Can you see it? They want to know how to plant the seed, or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith. To make their question more relevant to ourselves, I think it’s important to consider the audience. Alma is teaching the poor Zoramites. Remember, they have been kicked out of their synagogues. They are feeling less than others. They don’t feel like they can worship with the rich, popular, quote-unquote “righteous” and “chosen” members of the Zoramite church. They feel unworthy. Can you relate at all? I think this is more common in the church than we imagine. Perhaps we don’t feel like we measure up. We don’t feel as righteous or as chosen as others. We may begin to wonder if we are worthy of God’s love, attention, and mercy.
To me, there is a major theme or message to Alma’s answer and I think it’s a significant message for all of us. There are many branches to the tree of faith that Alma wants us to grow, many hypotheses that we can and should test. Living prophets, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, but what’s the trunk, or the taproot. Of all the things we can test and grow, this one is absolutely critical and perhaps the best place to begin. I invite you to read chapter 33 with the audience and their question in mind. What truth does Alma really want them to know?
You may come up with a different answer than I do, but I’ll share with you what I see. The message I see is, believe that you are worthy of God’s love, attention, and mercy. Throughout the chapter, he gives them reason after reason to believe this.
So in vs 2, Alma tells them that just because they’ve been kicked out of their synagogues, doesn’t mean that they can’t worship or that God is not aware of them.
Verses 3-11 he reminds them that God hears their prayers wherever they are offered in sincerity. And that God is merciful. A key phrase comes up in 11 and 13. Repetition means that it’s important. He says that God has turned away his judgments because of his son Jesus Christ.
He really wants to hammer this idea home. He pauses in vs 12 to highlight it and asks. Do yu believe this? That God is merciful. That he forgives sins. That he turns his judgments away.
In verse 14. Again, if you read the scriptures, how can you disbelieve this.
In verse 16 he quotes another prophet, Zenock which said “Thou art angry, O Lord with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou has bestowed upon them because of thy Son.”
Now I struggle just a little bit with the word that Zenock chose, that God is angry that we don’t understand his mercy. I might say that God is saddened or pained by it, but angry, I don’t know. Maybe we just don’t know something about the audience Zenock is speaking to. But the bigger point here is that God really wants us to believe and accept this key truth. That’s he’s merciful.
Perhaps you can relate to this struggle. I know that I feel this way sometimes. I consider all my faults, my weaknesses, my sins, my shortcomings, and I wonder, like the Zoramites, am I worthy of God’s forgiveness? And I hear those truths taught all the time. God is merciful, God forgives sins, God will turn away his judgments. So maybe I picture in my mind Christ coming to me and saying, Ben, do you believe that, that I can forgive you of those things. And I say, yes Lord. And I do believe it, doctrinally, intellectually, theologically, it makes sense. But in my heart, there’s doubt. Or we can believe that truth very easily for others, that God will forgive them. For the members of my ward who come into my office seeking forgiveness, I tell them, God is merciful, you will be forgiven, and I believe it. But for me. For some reason, that’s harder to accept. And Christ looks at me searchingly and asks. No, Ben, do you really believe it? That I can forgive your sins. And I hesitate and say. Yes? And then he asks, then why are you so worried all the time? Why are you so fearful of failure? Why do you wonder if you are going to make it?
I think that’s the point Alma wants to drive home to the Zoramites. YOU are worthy of God’s mercy. God will turn away his judgments, he will hear your sincere prayers.
He uses another scriptural example. Moses and the brazen serpent. All you need to do is look and live! The Israelites could be healed of the poisonous serpent bites by that simple act. Just think of it. Just turning your head and looking. Just casting about your eyes. That’s all it took. Same with us and Christ’s mercy. Just look, he’ll forgive you. And this idea is magnified when we consider who's teaching it. Alma the younger. He knows firsthand the power of Christ’s mercy. What did he do, when he was suffering the pains of hell, racked with torment. His mind caught hold on the thought that Christ saves. And immediately, Christ snatched him out of it. Case in point for us. I think we make repentance and obtaining God’s mercy harder than it really is sometimes. I know I’ve said this before, and that’s because it’s such a major message of the Book of Mormon. The difficulty of repentance is not in obtaining God’s mercy, it’s in changing our own hearts. That’s the hard part. I don’t think repentance is as much of an act as it is a way of life. It’s a state of our hearts. A desire and commitment to try and do what’s right. It’s having a broken or tame heart, and a contrite spirit, not a rebellious heart and spirit. And when repentance becomes a way of life, so does forgiveness and mercy.
So now Alma’s going to conclude very powerfully here. Very straightforward, and he’s going to tie that idea in with his seed planting metaphor from 32 in Alma 33:22-23:
22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, (START HERE) then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.
23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen.
So what’s the taproot, the trunk of growing the tree of faith or the tree of life within your heart? God turns away his judgments because of His Son. God forgives. YOU, not just others, but YOU are worthy of his love, attention, and mercy. Believe this. Plant that idea deep in your heart, nourish that idea, and what will be the result? Verse 23. Your burdens will be eased, why? Because you won’t be carrying the full weight of that guilt. You will have joy, why, because you will know you are not lost. That is a very delicious fruit.
CONCLUSION
If I were teaching this to a class, I would conclude right there with that thought, with Alma’s testimony. And I hope that YOU believe this. For you. In your heart. Not just for others, and not just doctrinally or intellectually. You are worthy of God’s love, attention, and mercy.
ALMA 34
Well, Alma 34 is the second witness of this message. Amulek is going to jump in and give his testimony of these truths. Now, truth be told, Amulek is a little more doctrinal than Alma is and there are some great things that he adds, but I’m going to allow you to study those on your own. He too speaks of the atonement, the power of prayer and God’s eagerness to hear us, and the importance of planting the seed of faith unto repentance.
But if there was one set of verses I might give you just a quick thought on in Alma 34, it would probably be 32-33. And I would set it up in the context of the seed of faith and the tree of life.
Remember the scenario I had you picture at the beginning. Christ comes to you before you are born and gives you the seed and now it’s time to begin life. And Amulek has something to say about our lives. He says:
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
Such great phrases in those verses. So, I’ll pose this verse with a number of questions we could ask the Savior as he hands us that seed.
We ask, “How can I prepare to meet you?” He answers “Grow the tree”
Then I ask “What’s the most important labor I can perform in this life?” He answers “Grow the tree”
I ask “How do I prepare for eternity?” He answers “Grow the tree”.
I ask “How can I improve my time while in this life?” He answers “Grow the tree.
And then he adds “And don’t procrastinate the growing of your tree. Trees take time to grow. And if you wait too long to get it planted, eventually, it will be too late to plant and grow and reap the fruit. So do it now.
ALMA 35
What does this chapter teach you about refugees?
CONCLUSION
So I would like to conclude this lesson with that thought. The most important thing that we can do in this life is to grow a tree. So grow it. Do it now. Don’t procrastinate. Nourish it with great care. It’s THE way we prepare for eternity.
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