52 And again I say unto you, the Spirit saith: Behold, the aax is laid at the root of the tree; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be bhewn down and cast into the fire, yea, a fire which cannot be consumed, even an unquenchable fire. Behold, and remember, the Holy One hath spoken it.
53 And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and atrample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be bpuffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of ccostly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your driches?
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 asanctified 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 apoor, 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 agood shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye bseparate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be cblotted 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;
58 For the names of the righteous shall be written in the abook of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand. And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this? I say unto you, if ye speak against it, it matters not, for the word of God must be fulfilled.
59 For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his aflock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him.
60 And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.
61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of ahim who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.
62 I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the atree of life.
THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA
CHAPTER 6
The Church in Zarahemla is cleansed and set in order—Alma goes to Gideon to preach. About 83 B.C.
2 And it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the church who arepented of their sins were baptized unto repentance, and were received into the church.
3 And it also came to pass that whosoever did belong to the church that did not arepent of their wickedness and humble themselves before God—I mean those who were lifted up in the bpride of their hearts—the same were rejected, and their names were cblotted out, that their names were not numbered among those of the righteous.
4 And thus they began to establish the order of the church in the acity of Zarahemla.
5 Now I would that ye should understand that the word of God was liberal unto all, that none were deprived of the privilege of assembling themselves together to hear the word of God.
6 Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in afasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.
7 And now it came to pass that when Alma had made these regulations he departed from them, yea, from the church which was in the city of Zarahemla, and went over upon the east of the ariver Sidon, into the bvalley of Gideon, there having been a city built, which was called the city of Gideon, which was in the valley that was called Gideon, being called after the man who was cslain by the hand of Nehor with the sword.
8 And Alma went and began to declare the word of God unto the church which was established in the valley of Gideon, according to the revelation of the truth of the word which had been spoken by his fathers, and according to the spirit of prophecy which was in him, according to the atestimony of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who should come to redeem his people from their sins, and the holy order by which he was called. And thus it is written. Amen.
The famous "self-evaluation" chapter of Alma 5 ends with Alma asking his audience to "come and be baptized unto repentance." This really emphasizes the importance of baptism. Baptism has been on my mind a lot as we have recently been blessed to see many baptisms in our ward. A couple of weeks ago one of my daughters friends from school was baptized with her mom and dad and sister. Then last week two of another daughter's eight year old friends were baptized. I have know these two little girls and their families since they were born. It is hard to believe they have grown up to the age of accountability right before our eyes. This summer my own daughter will be baptized and so I have really been pondering the subject.
I know many in the world today don't understand why we would need baptism to get into the kingdom of heaven. They say that what is in our hearts is all that matters. I have thought about this and realized that wishes can not make something happen. Works make things happen. For example, if you want to go to a concert you can't just wish that you had a ticket and expect them to let you in. You have to work hard enough to earn the money to buy the ticket. Then you have to protect the ticket and have it with you when you arrive at the venue. And you have to be at the right venue at the right time. And this is all just to see a concert. Doesn't it make sense that you would need to do at least that much to enter the presence of the Lord?
The famous "self-evaluation" chapter of Alma 5 ends with Alma asking his audience to "come and be baptized unto repentance." This really emphasizes the importance of baptism. Baptism has been on my mind a lot as we have recently been blessed to see many baptisms in our ward. A couple of weeks ago one of my daughters friends from school was baptized with her mom and dad and sister. Then last week two of another daughter's eight year old friends were baptized. I have know these two little girls and their families since they were born. It is hard to believe they have grown up to the age of accountability right before our eyes. This summer my own daughter will be baptized and so I have really been pondering the subject.
I know many in the world today don't understand why we would need baptism to get into the kingdom of heaven. They say that what is in our hearts is all that matters. I have thought about this and realized that wishes can not make something happen. Works make things happen. For example, if you want to go to a concert you can't just wish that you had a ticket and expect them to let you in. You have to work hard enough to earn the money to buy the ticket. Then you have to protect the ticket and have it with you when you arrive at the venue. And you have to be at the right venue at the right time. And this is all just to see a concert. Doesn't it make sense that you would need to do at least that much to enter the presence of the Lord?
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