Alma 5:26-37

The questions from Alma(2) continue.

26  And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
27  Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God?  Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?  That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?
28  Behold, are ye stripped of pride?  I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God.  Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.
29  Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy?  I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.
30  And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?

Alma 5:26-30 (Emphasis mine)

Let's review the questions he asked.

• If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?  Earlier in his sermon (verse 9), he reminded the people that, when they had been freed, "... their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love.  And I say unto you that they are saved."  They had experienced it when they obtained their freedom, but do they feel it now?  Describing this song, Robert Millet wrote "Those who have learned to rely on the Lord and lean upon his tender mercies 'sing the song of redeeming love' (Alma 5:26)." (Emphasis mine)  By asking them this question, he both reminds them they had relied on the Lord in the past and asks them if they are doing it now.
• Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Are they living a righteous life.  Describing this question, are you blameless before God, Noel Reynolds wrote "Because repentance is such a demanding and essential element of God's offer to men, it is represented as a narrow or strait gate. Nephi teaches his descendants that 'the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism' (2 Nephi 31:17; cf. Jacob 6:11). And 'none shall be found blameless before God . . . only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord' (Mosiah 3:21)."  Alma(2) is asking the people do you have faith in the Lord? Have you repented?  This is how they will be blameless before God. 
• Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?  This is how we should be living our lives.  We should be doing our best to be ready to meet God whenever we die as we don't know when that day will be.
• Have your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? In the previous post, we addressed the importance of our garments being cleansed and white.  These are a sign of those who have taken advantage of the atonement and have endured to the end.

Then Alma(2) tells them that they have to have stripped themselves of both pride and envy.  If you haven't, he tells them, you are not ready to meet God.

Elder John Carmack explained the importance of avoiding pride. 
"As I have watched beloved friends and family lose their faith, I have tried to identify major causes ... Arrogance, or pride. One of the three dangers I shall mention is arrogance, or pride. Intellectual pursuits, financial success, positions of power, and other achievements, in and of themselves neither morally bad nor good, sometimes lead to pride and away from humble dependence on the Lord. Jacob cautioned that 'to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.' (2 Ne. 9:29.) Financial and political power can also be seductive and corrupting influences." (Emphasis mine)

Elder Spencer Condie also discussed pride.

"The first of these is pride, described by our beloved President Ezra Taft Benson as 'the … stumbling block to Zion' (Ensign, May 1989, p. 7). Satan’s second major strategy is discouragement, which leads to a loss of faith and hope and patience. Both of these nefarious strategies of the adversary are resistant to change. To the proud, change is threatening because it will require a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a meek and a lowly heart.

"To those who are discouraged, there is the feeling that 'there is nothing I can do to change myself or my circumstances.' Whether Satan afflicts us with pride or discouragement, the outcome is largely the same—we begin to accept ourselves as we are, declaring, 'That’s just the way I am.' " (Emphasis mine)

Envy deals with being resentful of what other people have.  It can be material possessions.  It can be talents.  It can be almost anything.  Envy takes us away from the Lord.  Elder H. Burke Peterson said, "No one can be classed as a true follower of the Savior who is not in the process of removing from his heart and mind every feeling of ill will, bitterness, hatred, envy, or jealousy toward another."

The love Christ commands requires a mighty change and great humility. It requires us to forsake pride and to be stripped of envy." (Emphasis mine)

30  A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 14:30 (Emphasis mine)

1  BE not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2  For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

Proverbs 24:1-2 (Emphasis mine)

4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1 Corinthians 13:4 (Emphasis mine)

16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

James 3:16 (Emphasis mine)

31  Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!
32  Yea, even wo unto all ye workers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord God hath spoken it!

Alma 5:31-32 (Emphasis mine)

The time to repent and prepare to meet God is now.  Don't put it off until later.  Much depends on your choices.  If you don't repent, if you work iniquity, you cannot be saved.

34  Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;
35  Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire—

Alma 5:34-35 (Emphasis mine)

The only way you can reenter the presence of the Lord is through righteousness.  There is no other way.  

35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

John 6:35 (Emphasis mine)

36  For behold, the time is at hand that whosoever bringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn.
37  O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!

Alma 5:36-37 (Emphasis mine)

The day will come the wicked will mourn because of their sins.  Alma(2) reminds them that the Lord is still calling them to return.  Sadly, they ignore the the call.  

10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Matthew 3:10 (Emphasis mine)

17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Matthew 7:17-20 (Emphasis mine)

24  ¶ Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27  When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

Proverbs 1:24-29 (Emphasis mine)

The wicked suffer because of their choices.  This the Lord has made clear.