Do You Hear Him?

It is possible to believe in Jesus Christ without truly knowing Him.

A person may believe that He lived, died, and was resurrected. He may believe that Jesus is the Savior and accept many of His teachings. But knowing Christ requires more than believing facts about Him. We must learn to hear His voice, recognize His direction, and obey what He tells us.

Jesus Christ is not only a figure from scripture. He lives, speaks, and reveals Himself to those who sincerely come unto Him.

The Father made this clear at the beginning of the Restoration. When He appeared with Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith, He said:

“This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:17).

The Father directed Joseph to His Son.

President Russell M. Nelson explained that to hearken means to listen with the intent to obey. He taught that to “hear Him” means hearing what the Savior says and then heeding His counsel.

This gives us the first principle of knowing Christ: we must be willing not only to hear His words, but to obey them.

The scriptures, the Holy Ghost, and the words of true prophets can all direct us to Christ and communicate His teachings. But the purpose is not merely to collect religious information. It is to learn His voice and follow Him personally.

Ask yourself whether there is something the Lord has already taught you that you continue to resist. Have you asked Him for direction while privately deciding that there are certain answers you will not accept? If He required you to change a belief, habit, relationship, tradition, or plan that you strongly wanted to keep, would you obey Him?

Those questions reveal whether we truly want to hear Christ or only want Him to confirm what we have already chosen.

The Veil of Unbelief

Ether 4 describes a barrier that keeps people from receiving greater revelation from God. The Lord calls it a “veil of unbelief.”

He said:

“Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief” (Ether 4:14).

He then said:

“When ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind … when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers” (Ether 4:15).

The problem described here is unbelief that produces hardness of heart and spiritual blindness. The Lord also gives the remedy. We come unto Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, repent, believe His gospel, and obey Him (Ether 4:15, 18).

The veil of unbelief is therefore not removed by curiosity alone. It is removed as we become willing to believe Christ, repent of what separates us from Him, and obey His voice.

What has the Lord tried to teach you that you have rejected because it was difficult to accept? Is there a commandment you understand but have not obeyed? Is there a sin you continue to protect while asking Him for greater revelation?

We cannot continually resist the Lord and at the same time expect to know Him more deeply.

Believe What He Will Say

The brother of Jared shows what greater faith looks like.

His faith had already brought him to an extraordinary experience. After seeing the finger of the Lord, he asked the Lord to show Himself fully.

The Lord responded with an unusual question:

“Believest thou the words which I shall speak?” (Ether 3:11).

The Lord did not ask only whether the brother of Jared believed what had already been revealed. He asked whether he would believe words that had not yet been spoken.

The brother of Jared answered:

“Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie” (Ether 3:12).

President Jeffrey R. Holland described the difference between preparatory faith and redemptive faith. Preparatory faith is strengthened by what God has already done. Redemptive faith reaches toward what God has not yet revealed and trusts Him before the outcome is known. President Holland explained that this kind of faith requires us to commit in advance to what God may require of us (Christ and the New Covenant, 18–19).

The brother of Jared trusted the character of God enough to believe before hearing the answer.

That is the principle.

If we will obey Christ only when His direction agrees with what we already believe, want, or understand, then we are still placing our judgment above His. Faith requires us to trust that He knows more than we do and that His words are true even when they require us to change.

This does not mean accepting every thought or impression without discernment. We must still test what we receive and learn to recognize the Holy Ghost. But once we know that the Lord has spoken, faith requires obedience.

King Lamoni’s father expressed this willingness when he prayed:

“I will give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18).

He understood that knowing God might require him to surrender things he had been unwilling to surrender before.

The same is true for us.

Are you willing to give away every sin the Lord exposes? Are you willing to let Him correct traditions or assumptions you have carried for years? Are you willing to obey Him before you know exactly where obedience will lead?

If the answer is no, then the problem is not that Christ refuses to speak. The problem is that we have placed conditions on what we are willing to hear.

Come Unto Him

Jesus has already explained what He asks of those who desire to know Him.

He said:

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me … and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

The Lord also declared:

“It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:1).

The pattern is clear. We forsake sin, come unto Christ, call upon Him, obey His voice, and keep His commandments. Knowing Him is connected directly to repentance and obedience.

This does not mean that we control when or how the Lord manifests Himself. Revelation comes according to His wisdom and timing. But we can place ourselves in a condition to receive what He desires to give us.

President Nelson has urged the Saints to increase their spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation. He taught that we hear Christ through His words in scripture, through the Holy Ghost, in the temple, and through the words of prophets who testify of Him. He also taught that when we seek to truly hear the Son, we will be guided to know what to do in our circumstances.

The responsibility is personal. No one else can develop your relationship with Christ for you.

Others can teach you His words. They can testify of Him, counsel you, and point you toward Him. But you must pray. You must repent. You must learn how the Holy Ghost speaks to you. You must act on the direction you receive.

That is how hearing about Christ becomes hearing Christ.

Know Him

The purpose of all of this is not merely to receive more revelation. It is to know Jesus Christ.

The Savior prayed:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

Knowing Christ means that our relationship with Him becomes real through faith, revelation, repentance, obedience, and continued experience with Him.

If you want to know Him, begin by taking seriously what He has already said. Repent of what He has already shown you is wrong. Obey the direction you have already received. Then continue seeking Him with a humble heart and a willingness to obey what He teaches next.

The question is not simply whether you believe that Jesus Christ speaks.

Do you hear Him, and when He speaks, will you follow Him?