"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.
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." (Alma 12:10-11)
The Lesser Portion
Being totally ignorant of the truth makes us susceptible to lies, and living a lie cannot bring happiness. If we believe everything we hear, or nothing, we have no way to evaluate what is right. We then too often take the wrong path and end up miserable. The reason we almost always take the wrong path is because the best way to justify in our minds what we do is what everyone else is doing. The "bandwagon" propaganda trick is only effective on an ignorant population. Allow me an example from my profession:
If I'm an oncologist and I do what everyone else is doing I'm safe from all repercussions of my actions. I can treat a hundred people with cancer and if one survives the deadly doses of chemotherapy and radiation I'm a hero. However, if I'm an alternative doctor that isn't mainstream and I were to treat those same hundred and only one died I would be a villain for "killing" that one. I would end up in court where only one question is asked, "What would the other oncologists do?" If my treatment is different then I would be stripped of my license, and even prosecuted for murder. Keeping oncologists ignorant of the effects of what they do is necessary for them to continue to “follow the crowd.”
This is found throughout society, in all professions, and all business. Advertising depends heavily on the concept of "bandwagon" or "this is what everyone is doing." Children use it to convince their parents to buy them things or allow them to do things. If the parents don't have a good sense of right and wrong, they will often give in. This leads to captivity and death.
"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil." (Alma 40:13)
No, ignorance is most assuredly not bliss! In order to be happy, we must have as much of the truth as possible. The more we know, the more happy we can be. When we accept and live by the lesser portion, then we can move on to the greater portion of God's word.
The greater portion
Those who desire more have to find a source of truth that is greater than any human being can possess. All humans are limited by our experience. We can be very intelligent, but until we know everything, we really know nothing. Thus, the only way to find truth is by asking the One who knows -- God. The Lord desires to teach us all things, but cannot give understanding all at once. We need to learn as children always learn, a little at a time. We cannot understand calculus unless we have a firm grasp of arithmetic and algebra. We cannot understand Shakespeare until we know the meaning of words. God teaches us in the same way, as Nephi explains:
"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (2 Nephi 28:30)
This concept of learning little-by-little applies to every situation. In one sense, we are all children who have gone away to school. The Earth is our school. Those who accept truth when it is given can get more truth. However, just as children can decide not to learn in school, we can reject the knowledge of God, and remain ignorant. Those who say, "I have enough" will lose even what they have until they know nothing.
A great example of this is found in those who profess to believe in the Bible and say they want to know God, but reject anything else that comes from God. When Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon "Christians" everywhere were up in arms against him saying that the Bible was enough, and they didn't want any more of God's word. Again, Nephi explains:
Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?
Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. (2 Nephi 29:6-8)
Later, Mormon explains that one of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to try the faith of those who profess to believe in God. If they receive the Book of Mormon, they will be able to continue on and receive more:
"And when they shall have received this [Book of Mormon], which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. (3 Nephi 26:9-10)
Use it or lose it
In every case, the Scriptures state that those who accept the lesser may receive greater, while those who don't will lose everything. This is very important. We don't just stay stagnant with the small amount of knowledge we currently possess, we actually lose it all when we stop learning and growing. There is no "enough." When we resist knowledge, we lose it, even those things that we knew. This is true everywhere. If we don't keep up our use of any knowledge, we lose it. My daughter came home and asked me to help her with her algebra, simple things that I once knew in school, but I couldn't because what she needed was lost to me because I hadn't used it in so long.
The way to knowledge is by constantly learning and growing. We must go to the Source of all knowledge frequently in daily prayer and scripture study. We must accept the small portions we are given so that we can learn more, never saying, “I have enough.” We must obey each little part in order to receive more. As we are faithful and obedient to what we are given we will be given more until we really do know everything: "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24) "Perfect" in the Scriptures means "complete" or "whole." There will come a time when those who continue to learn will have a complete knowledge -- or "the greater portion."
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