Mysteries

From Sean's Gospel Topical Guide
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Joseph Smith is told that he should exercise his gift in order to have mysteries revealed to him.
For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.
And I have given unto him the keys of the mystery of those things which have been sealed, even things which were from the foundation of the world, and the things which shall come from this time until the time of my coming, if he abide in me, and if not, another will I plant in his stead.
61) If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.
65) Behold, thou shalt observe all these things, and great shall be thy reward; for unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but unto the world it is not given to know them.
5) For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.
6) Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
7) And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.
8) Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.
9) And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught.
10) For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.
And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
18) The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—
19) To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.
1) And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in the Spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my father.
2) And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them.
3) For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.
4) And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also, because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men.
5) And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
6) And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations.
7) And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.
8) And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
9) And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.
10) Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?
11) Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.
9) And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10) 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.
11) And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth.
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8) Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
  1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
  2. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
  3. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
  4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
  5. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
  6. That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
  7. Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Notes

Scripture consistently communicates that the mysteries of God can and will be revealed. They are not incomprehensible or unknowable. The idea that the mysteries of God are unknowable is a false doctrine coming from other religions.

Moses 1:5 indicates that there is a limit to how much we can have revealed to us while living on the Earth as mortals. (It still seems that any particular issue could be revealed.) It is unclear if this is a limitation imposed by our bodies, or if God has his own reasons for not allowing all to be revealed to an individual who will remain on the earth.

I would venture that the unknowability of God was a political expediency established during the Nicene creed to make peace between rival Christian factions. As science turned on the unknown and rendered it knowable, the false, unknowable God, was pushed further and further away, until, in modern times, he is presumed to exist outside of the universe. However, God is not unknowable, so there is not need to postulate theories of extra dimensions or superuniverses where rationality does not hold and paradoxes are reality. (Other dimensions and other universes might, in fact, exist, but without a belief in the idol which is the unknowable God, they are not required.)

Cross-References