He that will not harden his heart—is given the greater portion of the word – Alma 12:10 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize and Commentary
And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
I wrote another post about not hardening our hearts, check it out here: Hear his voice and harden not your hearts – Jacob 6:6 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize
Elder Gerald N. Lund in his talk, “Opening Our Hearts,” explains how connected our hearts are in receiving revelation which is the same as receiving divine knowledge.
We feel things in our hearts. In the scriptures, the prophets teach that personal revelation is closely linked to the heart. For example:
Mormon taught, “Because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost.” Moroni 8:26
Alma said, “He that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word.” Alma 12:10
Mormon wrote of the Nephites, “[Their souls were filled] with joy and consolation … because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” Helaman 3:35
And then the Psalmist simply wrote, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” Psalm 34:18
Isn’t that something we all seek, brothers and sisters—to be visited by the Holy Ghost, to have the Lord draw closer to us, to find joy and consolation in our lives? If so, then carefully assessing the condition of our hearts is one of the most essential things we can do in this life.”
He continues comparing the heart to a gate or fence where “No one can enter that gate unless we allow him or her to. In some cases the fence we erect around our hearts could be likened to a small picket fence with a Welcome sign on the gate. Other hearts have been so hurt or so deadened by sin that they have an eight-foot (2.5-m) chain-link fence topped with razor wire around them. The gate is padlocked and has a large No Trespassing sign on it.”
This is a highly dangerous thing because if we shut our gate to the spirit, we will receive no divine knowledge and that is the only way we are saved.
Joseph Smith said, “Add to your faith knowledge, etc. The principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation. This principle can be comprehended by the faithful and diligent; and every one that does not obtain knowledge sufficient to be saved will be condemned. The principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”
We must be vigilant and yeild up or open up our hearts unto the spirit of God. We do this through repentance, faith, obedience, and desiring with all our hearts to be filled with His spirit. When we do this we are “given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto [us] to know the mysteries of God until [we] know them in full.”
When we hear the phrase “the mysteries of God,” I fear sometimes we think that these are reserved only for the noble and great ones (D&C 138:55 & Abraham 3:22), and somehow we exclude ourselves from that group, and tell ourselves that these mysteries are out of our reach. This is a great lie that the adversary immediately plants into our hearts in an effort to make us harden our hearts against the spirit.
Joseph Smith said: “God hath not revealed any thing to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve & even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them.”
We must stand boldly against all the lies of the adversary and not harden our hearts, for we have been reserved for these last days and have a great work to do.
Gordon B. Hinckley said:
“I regard you as the finest generation in the history of the Church. I compliment you, and I have in my heart a great feeling of love and respect and appreciation for you.
Each time I have stood before such a group, there has come into my mind the great and prophetic statement made by Peter of old. Said he: ‘Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ (1 Pet. 2:9).’”
As we harden not our hearts we will be filled with His spirit and His marvelous light and will be His sons and daughters, and will be taught at His feet. Imagine the great work of salvation that will be performed through our hands as we yield His power. No force on or beneath the earth will have power to stop us as we do His work and bring forth all of His children unto Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Craig
Social Media Posts – Additional Commentary
How do we protect our hearts and make sure that they are fully in tune and open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit? I believe that one really important part of keeping our hearts open to the Light of Christ, is to keep a constant inventory of our thoughts and the promptings that area given to us. This will allow us to inspect our thoughts and to ensure that they are in alignment to righteousness. This constant assessment of our thoughts, will allow us to keep our hearts open and teachable.
This quote is so spot on and simple to understand. If we want the Holy Ghost and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to draw near unto us, we must be watchful continually of the condition of our hearts. In scripture, our heart is synonymous with our thoughts. We must watch our thoughts and make sure they are positive, clean, and righteous–always yearning and striving toward Holiness and godliness. When our thoughts are pure and open, our heart is pure and open and ready for our Savior.
I find it so interesting that Joseph said that “this principle can be comprehended by the faithful and diligent.” To me that phrase means that this principle is much more than what we read at face value. He gives us some clues though. Knowledge = salvation and salvation is given to us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Which means that it is not just secular knowledge, but rather it is the knowledge given or gifted to us through repentance and obedience to the spirit and the words of Christ. For His name is the only name whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men (Moses 6:52 & Acts 4:10–12). Also, the Lord himself teaches us that if we will “do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, [we shall] be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:13). Do we not want this great gift, let’s stay on the covenant path and be faithful, diligent, and obedient.
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