35 Yea, come unto me
and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast
into the fire—
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!
38 Behold, I say unto
you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth
call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the
voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are
not the sheep of the good shepherd.
39 And now if ye are
not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your
shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth
this is a liar and a child of the devil.
40 For I say unto you
that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the
devil.
Alma 5:35-40
Alma continues discussing the fruits of the life the people
lead.
Remember back to the Allegory of the Olive Trees. People who lived the gospel were represented
by the olive trees that brought forth good fruits. The wicked were represented by the wild olive
trees and branches. Eventually, the
master of the vineyard removed the wild branches and trees and burned
them. There was no use for them.
Alma may well be referring to this in his sermon to the
people of Zarahemla. The righteous will
not be “hewn down and cast into the fire.”
Like the useless wild branches, the
wicked will suffer the consequences of the sin.
They will “have cause to wail and
mourn.” During His mortal ministry,
the savior warned the Jews, “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).
“Alma's language continues to be strong, undoubtedly
motivated by what he must sense is the reluctance of some of his hearers to
respond to his message.”[1] He called those who were proud and into
worldly things “workers of iniquity.” Nephi would describe these people. “They
wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and
abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who
are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many
instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men” (2
Nephi 28:14).
The problem with the wicked is they claimed to be a part of
Christ’s fold, but they have gone astray.
They are sheep without a shepherd.
“But when he saw the multitudes,
he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted [GR they were
harassed], and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew
9:36).
Even so, the shepherd still calls their names but they
ignore his voice. “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none
of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you” (Proverbs 1:24-27).
When Lehi’s party was in the wilderness, the Lord promised
he would light their way. “And I will also be your light in the
wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall
keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye
shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that
ye are led” (1 Nephi 17:13).
He is also our light, constantly there. If we don’t see it, it is our fault because
we have become blind with wickedness and refuse.
So, the shepherd constantly calls, but the wicked ignore his
voice. “Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of
the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these
things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his
marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I
was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these
things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the
wickedness of my heart, even until the
fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of
the judges” (Alma 10:5 - 6).
Alma, like Abinadi, teaches that
the essential feature of the way of life is to "hearken to the voice of
the good shepherd" (Alma 5:37–39). Alma also insists that those who do not
follow the voice of the good shepherd follow the voice of the devil. The fold
of Christ, the good shepherd, consists of those who are following his voice,
which leads them to life. Thus membership in the fold of the good shepherd is
not necessarily equivalent to nominal membership in the church. The fold of the
devil consists of those who are following the voice of the devil, which leads
to everlasting destruction or death. All those who do not belong to the fold of
Christ belong to the fold of the devil (see Alma 5:37–39).[2]
Christ, the Good Shepherd, is constantly calling us to
follow him. If we don’t listen to Him,
and follow Him, we are not His sheep.
The Lord told the Saints in Kirtland their sufferings were
because the stopped listening to the Lord.
“They were slow to hearken unto
the voice of the Lord their God; therefore, the Lord their God is slow to
hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble” (D&C
101:7).
When ministering to the Nephites, the Savior told them, “But behold, ye have both heard my voice,
and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the
Father hath given me” (3 Nephi 15:24).
“But if he repent not he shall not
be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I know
my sheep, and they are numbered” (3 Nephi 18:31).
We are to return to the Good Shepherd, by which name we are
called. King Benjamin said, “And under this head ye are made free, and
there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby
salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of
Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be
obedient unto the end of your lives” (Mosiah 5:8)
Amulek would tell the Ammonites, “…[C]ontend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and
take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust,
and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that
ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth
bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38).
We either serve Christ or the adversary.
If you’re not part of the good shepherd’s flock, to which
flock do you belong? “No man can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
There are only two we can serve. The first is Christ. Should we reject Him, we serve the
devil. “And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him
the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth
himself on the left hand of God” (Mosiah 5:10).
You can’t deny this.
If you try to claim you follow Christ, while not following Him, you’re a
liar. “Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,
that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22).
Jacob told the Nephites, “And
our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil,
to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies,
in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first
parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up
the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret
works of darkness” (2 Nephi 9:9).
“[I]f we are not deliberately and consciously cultivating
the Holy Ghost as our constant shepherd, we may know for a surety that we are
unwittingly taking signals from the adversary and reaping the wages of service
to him.”[3]
Alma teaches a simple, essential principal. “[W]hatsoever
is good cometh from God.” The scriptures
make this very clear. David wrote, “Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good;
and our land shall yield her increase” (Psalms 85:12).
After informing us he was commanded to seal the record of
the brother of Jared, Moroni wrote, “And
whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none
save it be of me. I am the same that
leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe
me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who
sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I
am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world” (Ether 4:12).
The second part of this essential principle states, “whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” Mormon reminded Moroni, “Wherefore, all things which are good cometh
of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy
unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin,
and to do that which is evil continually” (Moroni 7:12).
Man can only obtain goodness from
God by hearkening to the voice of God. Therefore, good works are produced by an
interaction of our efforts with God's grace. On his own, man cannot bring forth
the works of righteousness, the good fruit we must produce to avoid being hewn
down and cast into the fire (see Alma 5:33–35). A mighty change of heart must
be wrought by the power of God, which empowers men to work
righteousness. Thus the very existence of the way of life is a gift of God, and
likewise the power to proceed in the way of life. The first gift is given to
all men, the second only to those who strive to hear and heed the voice of God
(see Alma 5:33–41, 57) (emphasis in original).[4]
[1] Alma
the Younger's Seminal Sermon at Zarahemla, Robert A. Rees, Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 14, 2015.
[2] The
Way of Life and the Way of Death in the Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling,
Maxwell Institute, accessed February 14, 2015.
[3] Alma
the Younger (Part 2) Man's Descent, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute,
accessed February 14, 2015.
[4] The
Way of Life and the Way of Death in the Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling,
Maxwell Institute, accessed February 14, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment