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"The Spirit and Power Which the Lord Had Given Them," Alma 8:29-32

Alma 8:29-32

After many days, the word of the Lord came to Alma: "Go; and also say unto my servant Amulek, go forth and prophesy unto this people, saying—Repent ye, for thus saith the Lord, except ye repent I will visit this people in mine anger; yea, and I will not turn my fierce anger away."

In subsequent verses, we learn that Alma and Amulek accomplished this commandment of the Lord through "the spirit and power which the Lord had given them." (vs 32) So it is, that those that go about the work of the Lord when called of the Lord to do so, they are empowered to do it through the influence of the Holy Ghost. In other words, they are endowed with power, or they have power given them. Verse 31 takes pains to explain the evidence of that power, in that they weren't able to be confined or thrown in dungeons, nor could anyone kill them.

Now later in the account we learn that Alma and Amulek were thrown into prison (and verse 31 makes reference to this), and after many days, power was given to these two stricken men to break the bands and leave the prison unharmed. The full account says this: "the Lord had granted unto them power, according to their faith which was in Christ." (Alma 14:28).

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It is through this power and influence of the Holy Ghost that Alma and Amulek were able to do what they did. Though this short group of verses does not address it, the importance of qualifying for the blessings and powers of heaven cannot be under-emphasized and becomes apparent in accounts such as these.

Finally, though it is stated throughout, for me it is worth noting that this spirit and power comes from the Lord. The Lord has standards that qualify his servants for his power. It is for this very reason that obedience is such an important part of the Gospel of Christ. Seldom am I able to effectively testify of this to others; perhaps spelling this out for myself may help me to do so for others as well.

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