Timothy B. Wilson

“ Oh Lord, will Thou give me strength to patiently suffer the afflictions that will come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people? Oh Lord, will Thou comfort my soul and give me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me, Ammon, Aaron, and Omner, Amulek, Zeezrom and my two sons? Oh Lord, comfort their souls in Christ. Will Thou also give them the strength to bear the afflictions that will come upon them because of the iniquity of this people? Oh Lord, will Thou give us success in bringing them back to Thee in Christ? Their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren. ”

“ The queen answered, "I have only your word and the word of our servants, but I do believe my husband will rise as you said."
Ammon replied, "You are blessed because of your great faith--a faith never known among all the Nephites."
The queen sat by her husband all night. In the morning the king awoke, and holding out his hand to the queen, he said, "Blessed is the name of God, and you are blessed too, for as surely as you live, I have seen my Redeemer. He will be born of a mortal woman and will redeem all who will believe in Him." ”

“ When Zerahemnah heard this, he came forward and delivered up his sword, scimitar and bow to Moroni, and said, "These are our weapons of war. We will deliver them up to you, but we will not make such an oath to you--an oath that we know we and our children will break. Take our weapons and allow us to depart into the wilderness. Otherwise we will keep our swords, and perish or conquer.
We are not of your faith, and we do not believe that a God delivered us into your hands. We believe that your cunning, your breastplates and shields have preserved you from our swords." ”

“ Zeezrom then asked, "Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father?"
"Yes," answered Amulek. "He is the very Eternal Father of heaven and earth, and He created all the things in them.
He was at the beginning and He will be at the end, being the first and the last. He will come into the world to redeem His people and to take upon Himself their transgressions.
And He will only grant salvation and eternal life to those who believe in Him. The wicked will remain as if no redemption were made, but they will still be resurrected to an immortal body. ”

“ I also remember the captivity of my father, Alma, and of his people. I know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob delivered them out of bondage and established His church among them.
I have always remembered that the same God who delivered my father also delivered my ancient forefathers out of the Egyptians' hands.
That same God established His church among my people and gave me a holy calling to preach the word to them. And He gave me great success, in which my joy is full! I do not rejoice in my own success alone. ”

“ I, Pahoran, also do not seek for power. I desire to regain my judgment-seat to preserve the rights and liberty of my people. My soul stands fast in that liberty with which God has made us free. We will resist wickedness even if we must shed blood. We would not kill the Lamanites if they would stay in their own land, nor would we kill our own brethren if they would not rise up in rebellion against us with swords. ”

“ Korihor answered, "Yes, I will deny these things, unless you show me a sign."
Then Alma said, "I am sorry your heart is so hard. You will resist the spirit of the truth until your soul is destroyed. But it is better for your soul to be lost than for you to bring many souls down to destruction by your lying and flattering words.
So if you deny God again, He will strike you so that you will not be able to speak again to deceive this people." ”

“ Have you kept yourselves blameless before God?
If you were to die now, could you say to yourselves that you've been humble enough, and that your robes have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem His people from their sins?
Are you stripped of pride? If not, you're not prepared to meet God. You must prepare quickly, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and those who are proud will not have eternal life.
Are any of you envious? Such a person is not prepared, for he won't be found guiltless. ”

“ Seeing this, Alma spoke to Zeezrom, explaining the scriptures beyond what Amulek had done.
By now a great crowd had gathered. They heard Alma say to Zeezrom,
"You know that your lying and craftiness have been exposed. You have lied to men and to God, who knows all your thoughts.
You also know that your thoughts are made known to us by His Spirit. And you know that we know of your very subtle plan, as subtle as the devil's, to lie and thereby deceive this people, that you might turn them against us, to hate us and throw us out. ”

“ In Gideon, Alma preached, "My beloved brothers and sisters, this is the first time I have been able to speak to you, for I have been very busy as chief judge. But now I have given the judgment-seat to Nephihah. The Lord has shown great mercy in allowing me to come to you. I have come, hoping to find you humbling yourselves before God, asking for His grace, so that you would be blameless before Him. I have come hoping that you were not in the same awful dilemma as our brethren in Zarahemla. But God has given me great joy in knowing that the people of Zarahemla are righteous again. ”

“ It is essential that an atonement is made, for according to the great plan of the Eternal God, there must be an atonement, or else all mankind would perish.
For all are hardened, fallen and lost and would perish unless an atonement is made.
It is necessary for a great, last sacrifice to be made, not of man, beast or fowl, but an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
No man's blood can atone for the sins of his brother, for if a man commits murder, will our just law take his brother's life? No, the law requires the life of the murderer. ”

“ Control your passions so that you may be filled with love. Do not be idle. Do not pray like the Zoramites, for you have seen how they pray to be heard by others and to be praised for their wisdom. Do not say, 'Oh God, I thank Thee that we are better than our brethren,' but rather say, 'Oh Lord, forgive my unworthiness and remember my brethren in mercy.' Acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times. ”

“ They have received many wounds but stand firm in that liberty with which God has made them free!
They are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day. They continually keep His statutes, judgments and commandments, and their faith is strong in the prophecies of what will come.
Now my beloved brother, Moroni, may the Lord our God, who has redeemed us and made us free, keep you continually in His presence. May He favor this people so you may have success in regaining what the Lamanites have taken from us.
This is the end of my letter. I am Helaman, Alma's son. ”

“ They have buried their weapons deep in the earth because they love their brethren.
Has there ever been such great love in all the land? No, not even among the Nephites, for they would take up arms against their brethren and not allow themselves to be killed.
But over 1,000 Lamanites have laid down their lives. And we know they have gone to their God because of their love for their brothers and their hatred of sin.
Do we have great reason to rejoice? Yes, since the world began, no men have ever had greater reason to rejoice than we! ”

“ If all men had been, or would be, like Moroni, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever, and the devil would have never had power over anyone's heart. Moroni was like Ammon, and also like Mosiah's other sons. He was also like Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.
Helaman and his brethren's service to the Nephites was just as important as Moroni's service, for they preached God's word and baptized unto repentance all those who would listen to the gospel. Because of their words, the people humbled themselves. ”

“ This land is forever cursed to those who work in darkness and secret combinations, even to their destruction, unless they repent before they are fully ripe.
Remember my words, Helaman. Do not give those secret plans to our people, but teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity.
Preach repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach them to humble themselves, to become meek and lowly in heart, and to resist every temptation of the devil by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. ”

“ Do you think that mercy can rob justice? No, not even one bit. If so, God would cease to be God, for His justice brings about His great, eternal purposes, which were prepared before the world was created. Through His justice, all people are resurrected, and either redeemed from their sins or condemned in their sins.
Remember my son, that all who come may drink the waters of life freely. Those who will not come are not forced, but when they are resurrected at the last day, their works will be restored to them. ”

“ Who can deny you are the devil's? Whoever does deny this is a liar.....a child of the devil.
For good comes from God, and evil comes from the devil.
If a man does good works, he listens to the Good Shepherd's voice and follows Him.
But whoever does evil works becomes the devil's child by listening to his voice and following him. All who do this must receive the devil's wages--spiritual death--a death to the things of righteousness, for they're dead to all good works. ”

“ Furthermore, it has been revealed to me, according to the spirit of prophecy in me, that the words of our forefathers are true.
The spirit of prophecy is also a manifestation of the Spirit of God. I know for myself that what I say about the future is true. I know that Jesus Christ will come. He is the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is full of grace, mercy and truth. He will come to take away the sins of everyone who firmly believes in Him. ”

“ Oh you workers of iniquity, puffed up by your pride in the vain things of the world. You who have professed to have known the ways of righteousness but have gone astray like sheep without a shepherd, even though the shepherd has called after you. ”

“ So let us glory and rejoice in the Lord, for our joy is full. We will praise our God forever, for who can glory too much in the Lord? Who can say too much about His great power, mercy and long-suffering toward His children? ”

“ I trust, according to God's Spirit in me, that I will also have joy over you, for I would rather not experience again the type of sorrow I had over the people of Zarahemla. I trust that you are more believing than your brethren--that you are not as proud as they were. ”

“ But there was no law against a person's beliefs, for the equality of the people's right to believe was to be upheld.
This Anti-Christ, named Korihor, who could not be restricted by the law, began to preach that there would be no Christ. He said, "Oh you who are bound down under a foolish, vain hope. Why do you burden yourselves with such foolish things? Why do you look forward to a Christ when no one knows the future?
What you call prophecies--things that you say have been handed down by holy prophets--are simply your forefathers' foolish traditions. How do you know they are really true? ”

“ Alma answered Zeezrom, explaining,
"God gives many people a knowledge of His mysteries. God also gives them a strict command not to say more than He wants them to say.
God gives more of His words to those who diligently obey what He has already given them. Those who do not harden their hearts receive more of His words until they know all of His mysteries.
Those who harden their hearts are given less and less, until they know nothing about God's mysteries. Then they are taken captive by the devil and are led by his will down to destruction. ”

“ My son, all men and women are in a carnal, natural state, bound by sins, and full of bitterness. They are without God in the world, going against His nature--the nature of happiness.
The word restoration does not mean to take something in a natural state and change it to an unnatural state, opposite to its nature. Restoration means bringing back evil to what is evil, carnal to what is carnal, and devilish to what is devilish. It means bringing goodness back to what is good, righteousness to what is righteous, justice back to what is just, and mercy to what is merciful. ”

“ We would subject ourselves to the yoke of bondage if God's justice required us to do so. But He does not require us to subject ourselves to our enemies. He requires that we trust in Him to deliver us.
My beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatever evil we cannot resist with our words, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church and in the cause of our Redeemer and God. ”

“ He was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn an oath to defend his people, their rights, country and religion, even to the loss of his own blood.
The Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, shedding blood if necessary. They were also taught never to begin an offense, and only to raise the sword against an aggressor in defense of their lives. They believed that if they were faithful in keeping God's commandments, He would prosper them in the land and warn them to run or to prepare for war according to their danger. ”

“ Standing before Alma and the chief judge, Korihor blasphemed as he had in Gideon. Korihor reviled against the priests and teachers, accusing them of leading the people away after their forefathers' silly traditions in order to glut themselves on the labors of the people.
When Korihor was finished, Alma said to him, "You know we do not glut ourselves on the labors of this people. I myself work with my own hands for my support, and have worked even from the beginning of the reign of the judges until now.
I work even though I travel around the land to declare God's word to my people. ”