53 And now my beloved
brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside
these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed
up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly
apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?
54 Yea, will ye
persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist
in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after
the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church,
having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which
are meet for repentance—
55 Yea, and will you
persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding
your substance from them?
56 And finally, all ye
that will persist in your wickedness, I say unto you that these are they who
shall be hewn down and cast into the fire except they speedily repent.
57 And now I say unto
you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come
ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things;
and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked
shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God
may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled
with the names of my people;
Alma 5:53-57
Once again, Alma has to warn the Nephites about the Nephite
Disease – riches, pride, and costly apparel.
The Nephites are so full of pride, they “trample the Holy One under [their] feet.” Nephi warned us this would happen. “For
the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and
soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample
under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would speak in other
words—they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels” (1
Nephi 19:7).
Warning the people against a wicked king, Mosiah said, “For behold, he has his friends in iniquity,
and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who
have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the
commandments of God” (Mosiah 29:22).
Costly apparel is always a concern among the Nephite
prophets and teachers. It is always a sign of Nephite apostasy. Nephi was also aware his people, in the
future, would face this challenge.
“Yea,
they have all gone out of the away; they have become corrupted. Because of pride, and because of false
teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their
churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor
because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine
clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride
they are puffed up. 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 28:11-14).
After Mormon’s death, Moroni finished his record. He sent us a very important warning.
“And
I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a
few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the
wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and
persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every
one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your
substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than
ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye
hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why
have ye polluted the holy church of God?
Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value
of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise
of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves
with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the
naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?” (Mormon
8:36-39).
Rather than set their eyes on the Lord, they have set their eyes on the riches of the world. “Trust not in oppression [OR extortion], and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (Psalms 62:10).
In this generation, the Lord warned:
Wo
unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches
will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of
visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the
summer is ended, and my soul is not saved! Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts
are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not
satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men's
goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own
hands! But blessed are the poor who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken,
and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in
power and great glory unto their deliverance; for the fatness of the earth
shall be theirs” (D&C 56:16-18).
If they continue to persecute their brethren, thinking they
are better than those who are humble and live a life of obeying the Lord, will “bring forth works which are meet for
repentance.”
“There can be no real repentance without personal suffering
and the passage of sufficient time for the needed cleansing and turning … Misery,
like adversity, can have its special uses …Real remorse quickly brings forth
positive indicators, ‘fruits meet for repentance’ (Matt. 3:8; see
also Acts
26:20; Alma 5:54.)
‘In process of time,’ these fruits bud, blossom, and ripen.[1]
“The Book of Mormon promises that all who receive and act
upon the Lord’s invitation to ‘repent and believe in his Son’ become ‘the
covenant people of the Lord’ (2 Ne. 30:2).
This is a potent reminder that neither riches nor lineage nor any other
privileges of birth should cause us to believe that we are ‘better one than
another (Alma
5:54; see also Jacob 3:9).
Indeed, the Book of Mormon commands, ‘Ye shall not esteem one flesh above
another, or one man shall not think himself above another’ (Mosiah 23:7).”[2]
The rich are withholding their wealth from the poor. Throughout the scriptures, the Lord has made
this clear this is not acceptable.
“Let them be before
the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because
that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man,
that he might even slay the broken in heart” (Psalms 109:15-16).
“O that he would rid
you from this iniquity and abomination.
And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not
this pride of your hearts destroy your souls! Think of your brethren like unto
yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they
may be rich like unto you” (Jacob 2:16-17).
“And thus they did
obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did trample
under their feet and smite and rend and turn their backs upon the poor and the
meek, and the humble followers of God. And thus we see that they were in an
awful state, and ripening for an everlasting destruction” (Helaman 6:39-40).
“Wo unto you rich men,
that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your
souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of
judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my
soul is not saved!” (D&C 56:16).
Should the wicked persist, they will be “hewn down and cast into the fire.”
To follow Christ, the wicked must turn away from the wicked
and separate themselves from them. If
they return, their names will be blotted out.
Paul warned, “Now we command you,
brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves
from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which
he received of us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6).
The Lord warned, “Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord
… Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness,
which is spiritual Babylon” (D&C 133:5, 14).
They will no longer be numbered with the Lord’s people. The children of Israel, who broke the
covenant, were told, “The LORD will not
spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against
that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him,
and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven” (Deuteronomy 29:20).
To the wicked, David wrote, “Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let
their name be blotted out” (Psalms 109:13).
[1] Repentance,
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, October 1991 General Conference, accessed February 21,
2015.
[2] All
Men Everywhere, Elder Dallin H. Oaks,
April 2006 General Conference, accessed February 21, 2015.
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