Alma 36 Chiasm in Script

FROM:  Alma 36 chiasm;
see also:  description of in script form

And now behold, my son, I would that ye should know as I do know; that ye may abide in the presence of God;⁽¹⁾ therefore, give ear unto my words, and this is according to his word.

For I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.

I would that ye should do as I have done, and I have always retained in remembrance the captivity of our fathers; yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance their captivity.

For they too were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions.

Yea he has brought our fathers out of the bondage of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time.

And in like manner, he has also brought our fathers out of bondage from the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, led them into this land of promise; yea, and he has also delivered them out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day.

And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me;

For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

And I do know this because I do put my trust in him, and I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and he will yet deliver me.

And I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day, yea he will raise me up to dwell with him in glory; and I will praise him forever,

Behold, I do know these things; yet I would not that ye think that I know of myself, for the knowledge which I have is not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.

Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself.

And because of the word which he has imparted unto me, and which I now speak unto you, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, being brought to know these things by the mouth his holy angels;

Yea, and they have seen God eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; they also esteeming themselves as unworthy creatures.

For behold, I had gone about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but God sent his holy angel, which we beheld, to stop us by the way. And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; even as God's holy angel brought me unto repentance.

And behold, when he spoke unto us, it was as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.

But behold, the voice said unto me: Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.⁽²⁾ And I arose and stood up.

Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors to bring souls to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, being filled with the Holy Ghost, that their confidence might wax strong in the presence of God.⁽³⁾

Yea I have stood upon my feet, shaking myself from the dust of the earth, and loosing myself from the bands of my neck,⁽⁴⁾ and my tongue has been loosed, that I might manifest unto the people that I have been born of God.

For it had come to pass that after the angel spoke unto me I fell again to the earth; and for the space of three days and three nights I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.

But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and my mouth was opened, and behold, it was three days after I fell the second time to the earth;

And the angel had spoken more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them--

For I was struck with exceeding great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I did hear no more after hearing the words: If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

Nevertheless after three days, what great wonders did I behold; yea, what marvelous joys did God bestow?

Behold, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

And now, my son, rather than seeking to destroy his church, I have been granted of God to build up his church, even to invite souls to incline their ears and hearken unto his word, with a broken heart and contrite spirit: that they might come into his presence and sing the songs of redeeming love before his throne, surrounded by the holy angels of God.

Oh, what joy, and what marvelous light did I behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! For I had been racked with eternal torment.

Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

Yea, my soul had been harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins, but because of this redemption I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more;

Yea, having had remembered all my sins and iniquities, I had been tormented with the pains of hell; but behold, when I thought upon the coming of the Son of God, I could remember my pains no more.

Now, as my mind had caught hold upon this thought, behold, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and I cried within my heart to my God: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who has not kept thy holy commandments, for I am in the gall of bitterness; yea, I have murdered many of thy children, or rather led them away unto destruction, for which I am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

Yea, in fine, so great had been my many sins and iniquities that I had been harrowed up to the greatest degree by the memory of them.

Oh, I had thought, with the pains of a damned soul, That I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body.

Yea, for three days and for three nights had I been thus racked, both soul and body, yearning that I might not be brought to stand to be judged of my deeds in the presence of my God.

Even the very thought of coming into the presence of my God had racked my soul with inexpressible horror.

Now behold, my son, it was while I was thus racked with torment that I remembered to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Yea, my son, thus coming unto my God, calling upon the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, this very thought brought me into the presence of my God, cleansed of all sin.

And now my soul is no longer racked with torment and inexpressible horror, but is filled with unspeakable joy. And rather than becoming banished and extinct, I have been redeemed, being brought triumphant to stand spotless, pure, and white in the presence of my God.

by Sterling D. Allan; Fountain Green, Utah; August 9, 1995

Notes:

1. From focal point of chiasm, link to A(4)'.

2. 2 Nephi 1:23.

3. Doctrine and Covenants 121:45.

4. Isaiah 52:2.