“You Know Me Not” – Getting to Know the Lord

Do we know Jesus Christ or do we only believe in Him? Twelve Jerusalem disciples thought they knew Him, but they all abandoned Him when things got difficult. Thankfully, they exercised faith unto repentance and came to truly know Christ, just as all of us can. The Lord shows us how to be wise and prepared when He comes, so that we may avoid the regretful words “ye knew me not.”

Knowing the Lord – Five Unwise Virgins

Ten virgins went to meet the bridegroom. They all brought their lamps, but only the five wise virgins also brought oil. At midnight, the cry rang out that the bridegroom was coming. As they awakened, the foolish virgins’ lamps were going out, so they asked the wise virgins for some of their oil. But, they refused, telling them instead to go and buy their own oil. While the foolish virgins were gone, the bridegroom arrived. Those with oil entered with Him and He shut the door. When the foolish virgins returned, they asked the Lord to open the door for them. But they didn’t know the Lord. The Lord answered, “Verily I say unto you, Ye know me not” (JST Matthew 25:11).

Had the foolish virgins known the Lord (the bridegroom), they would have brought oil. They also would have understood that it’s impossible for others to give them their oil and why there wasn’t enough time to buy oil that night. Only those who have a relationship with the Lord understand why He can’t reopen the door.

Are You in the Lord’s House?

In 1837, the prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation for Thomas B. Marsh, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The Lord bade him to bear record of His name throughout the world.

The Lord explained why He commissioned the Twelve to sound the warning voice to all the world. Great darkness covered the earth and the minds of the people. All flesh had become corrupt before Him and a great day of wrath and burning was soon coming. But why would the destruction begin on the Lord’s house (D&C 112:23-25)?

Peter considered a similar question. He also prophesied that the coming judgment must begin at the house of God, who he defined as Christians. Then he wondered:

Peter understood that only a few in the House of God would be saved even though they believed in Christ, but why? The Lord answers by explaining why the destruction will begin on His house:

You may think that because you are in the Lord’s house, you will be saved. But those that say they know Him and don’t, are those who will be the first to be destroyed. 

How Do You Know Something?

When I was an LDS missionary in Greece, it was customary when you return home to give a final report to the local leaders. As I stood before those fifteen men, I bore solemn testimony that I had learned on my mission that the country of Australia did not exist. None of it was real. The entire continent was only a figment of our imaginations. All of the people, their customs, and their history were entirely made up. Needless to say, my testimony was not well received. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was a fool.

As I glanced around the room, I saw their looks of disbelief and annoyance. Most of them were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. That’s when I explained to them that how they were treating me was exactly how I was treated for the past two years in Greece. When I went to tell the Greek people that their church wasn’t true and that my church was, they responded exactly how my leaders had acted that morning.

It was an epic homecoming report. After I explained myself, we all had a good laugh. Even so, the message I was trying to get across was very important. How could you possibly know that Australia is real if you’ve never been there yourself? You can read books and look at pictures all you want. Perhaps you could listen to the stories of other people who have been there. Surely these evidences would increase your belief, but can you really know for sure without going there yourself? The same thing applies to all gospel truth, especially our relationship with the Savior. How can you know the Lord, that Jesus Christ is real? Is it enough to study about Him, speak with Him, or even meet Him?

All Twelve Disciples Forsook Jesus

After the Lord administered the sacrament at the last super, He and His disciples went to the mount of Olives. There, the Lord told them “All ye shall be offended because of me this night” (Matthew 26:31). This was the Lord’s way of saying His disciples would be afraid to be associated with Him when they saw what the authorities were going to do to Him that night. But Peter answered that he would never be offended and that he was willing to die rather than deny Him. All of the disciples responded saying the same thing (Matthew 26:33-35).

It didn’t take long for all of the twelve to change their minds. When Judas came with a great multitude waving their swords and staves, Jesus spoke to them and said:

That’s when all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Peter & Judas Realized What They Did

The Lord was taken to the high priest’s palace where the scribes and elders were assembled. Peter sat in the back with the servants so he could see what was happening. When Jesus proclaimed that He was the Son of God, He was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death. His accusers spit in his face, buffeted Him, and smote Him with the palms of their hands (Matthew 26:58-67).

Three different people came to Peter during this and accused him of associating with Jesus. Peter denied them all. And when the cock crowed, Peter realized what he had done and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75).

The next day, Judas came back to the chief priests and elders and tried to return the 30 pieces of silver they had paid him to betray Jesus. He said, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). But they didn’t care and told Judas his sins were on his own head. Then Judas threw down the money and went and hanged himself.

Peter and Judas both had a personal relationship with the Lord, but apparently they didn’t know Him well enough to stay standing by Him through all hazards. Peter’s denial was in no way comparable to Judas’s betrayal but neither of them, at that point, really knew who Jesus was. They spent more time with Christ than anyone else during His earthly ministry. But neither of them had accumulated enough oil for the bridegroom to let them in.

It wasn’t just Peter and Judas. Even after the Lord was resurrected and the eleven saw Him, some still doubted (Matthew 28:17). If they didn’t know Him by then, where does that leave us? How many of us know the Lord well enough to follow Him through what’s coming?

The First Invitation

God speaks to us every now and then. Twenty years ago, at the age of 27, He spoke to me. My worship of Him that morning had consumed me with the good feelings of the spirit. I was warm, happy, grateful, and I felt full of light. But the spirit was there with more than just a good feeling that day. It had come with a message, as it usually does. The message to me was an invitation to come more fully unto the Lord. Unfortunately, in what may have been the biggest mistake of my life, I rejected that invitation. I replied, “I’m not ready.”

After I rejected the invitation extended to me by the voice of the Spirit, all of the good feelings I had been experiencing went away. They were replaced by darkness, confusion, emptiness, and a feeling of being all alone. It took me a few days to make sense of what had happened to me. Once I realized my mistake, I determined to never reject an invitation from the spirit again.

The Second Invitation

Up until that point in my life, I had never said the words, “I know” in any testimony I had ever born. Even as a missionary in Greece, I never once said “I know” that any of the things I was teaching about the gospel were true. I only ever said that “I believed” they were true. For some reason, I took the words “I know” very seriously. I didn’t want to say it, unless I really knew it.

Six months after I rejected the invitation to come more fully to the Lord, I heard the voice of the Spirit again. This time it asked me to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon and say “I know” that it is true. This was a huge test for me, and I had my doubts and fears. But this time, I immediately accepted the invitation, not knowing beforehand how I was going to fulfill it. 

A week or so later, it was fast and testimony meeting at church. I was the first one to get up and share my testimony. It was short and simple, and I concluded by saying that “I know” the Book of Mormon is true. As soon as I said it, I experienced a powerful baptism of fire right there at the pulpit.

Believing in Christ & Knowing Christ

Since that day, 20 years ago, I can say with confidence that I know the Book of Mormon is true. Unfortunately, I cannot yet say the same thing about our Savior. This is not an easy thing to admit. I believe that He is real. I would bet my life that He is real. Even so, I would hesitate to say that I know Him any more than Peter or the rest of the disciples did after spending several years learning from Him daily.

My great fear is that if the Savior came back today, I would not have enough oil in my lamp to be welcomed into the marriage. I spent the first 45 years of my life convinced that as long as I stayed on the covenant path, I would make it into the celestial kingdom. What that boiled down to for me, was keeping a current temple recommend and doing whatever the prophet asked.

That included reading my scriptures and saying my prayers every day. Attending the temple regularly and doing family history work. Fulfilling my callings. Doing my ministering. Paying a full tithe and keeping the word of wisdom. Being honest, hard-working, and seeking to serve my fellow man. By all accounts, I should have easily earned my way into exaltation. Yet, none of those things led me to knowing the Lord.

I believed in Christ, but I didn’t know Him. That began to change the very moment I sought to turn my belief into a knowledge of Christ by exercising faith in Him.

From Believing in Christ to Knowing the Lord

Many prophets in the Book of Mormon make the distinction between believing and knowing. Two in particular, describe the difference in great detail. By so doing, they give a road map for each of us to come to know Jesus Christ for ourselves.

Ether – Believe unto Repentance

The prophet Ether cried unto the people in the days of Coriantumr all day every day until they cast him out from among them. Not one single person listened to any of his words. They remained hard-hearted and they were all destroyed as a result. Thankfully, Ether kept a record of what he taught so that we can study his words today. Many people are finally hearing the words he spoke.

Ether taught that you can’t just believe in God, but you must “believe in God unto repentance.” Most people believe in God, but that belief doesn’t necessarily lead to repentance. To do so requires working to turn your belief into knowledge by exercising faith. When we seek the Lord’s will through revelation and follow it, we are repenting, or coming closer to Him. Ether explains this by saying that “by faith all things are fulfilled” (Ether 12:3).

Ether also goes on to explain that as you exercise more faith in God, your hope in His promises also continues to increase. It is your “hope for a better world” and “a place at the right hand of God” that acts as an “anchor to the souls of men” (Ether 12:4). That anchor is what makes men steady and consistently doing good works.

Moroni – The Trial of Faith

Moroni takes the opportunity to expound further on Ether’s commentary on faith. Like Ether, he also understood that you must use faith as a tool to turn your belief into knowledge. He illustrates this by explaining that “faith is things which are hoped for and not seen.” You don’t get to see these “things” first. The knowledge, or witness, of these “things” does not come until after the trial of your faith (Ether 12:6).

What are the “things” that Moroni was talking about in verse 6? He answers that question in verse 7 when he talks about Christ showing himself to his fathers, which could not happen until after they had faith in Him. In verse 8, Moroni teaches about Christ, that Jesus showing Himself unto His children is the “heavenly gift.” Again and again, he reiterates that we can all be partakers of this gift, which is to receive the second comforter. But we can only receive the instructions to do so by faith.

What is the trial of faith that we must go through to know Christ? Later on, in Ether 12, Moroni is lamenting that the Gentiles will mock the path of ascension because of his weakness in writing. But the Lord explained that His grace is sufficient for those that humble themselves before Him and have faith in Him (Ether 12:27-28). He cannot reveal Himself to us until we properly “seek this Jesus“ through faith. This was the same reason He did not allow Mormon to include everything He taught the Nephites in Bountiful in the record to the gentiles (3 Nephi 26:9). The Lord will try our faith.

Jesus Christ Will Become Our Father

D&C 45:8-10 is a powerful summation of the Doctrine of Christ. As we receive the Lord, He will baptize us with fire and the Holy Ghost. He will literally adopt us as His sons and daughters at that moment. Then, if we remain faithful on the path He reveals to us, He will give us power to obtain eternal life. This is the promise of the everlasting covenant which He has sent to be a light to the world. This is how we may come to know Him. But we cannot enter into this covenant without seeking revelation from Him and acting on it. This is partially what it means when He says that He will show us His strong reasoning.

There is still time. If you do not yet know the Lord, you can begin immediately to seek Him. Start this very minute by entering into the covenant by making an oath to offer Him your broken heart and contrite spirit. If you do so, the Lord will show you how to enter the gate, which is to receive your first comforter. That is what it means to take the Holy Spirit as your guide.

At this point, Christ can say that he knows us, and we will not be among the surprised virgins who heard the words “you know me not.”

Conclusion

The fear that the Lord will return and you won’t know Him is real. No one wants to be locked out of the feast or cast into the fire. Nobody wants to leave Christ’s side when things get difficult. Thankfully He has given us the way to know who He truly is, as outlined in the Doctrine of Christ. After the day of Pentecost, the 12 disciples had a complete change of heart. They experienced redemption. From then on, they spent their lives in His service, regardless of the cost. They were willing to sacrifice everything.

We can get there. We are all promised that we can ascend to the same level. The gate is open to all but there is only one keeper there. Let’s do our best to know who He really is.