Learning is essential to following Jesus Christ. This fact is taught in many ways in the scriptures. For example, in D&C 88: 118 the Lord commands, “… seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” Or, in D&C 93 wherein is described Jesus’ example of the critical importance of learning. The testimony of John identifies this essential element of Jesus’ example:
And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.[1]
Later in this same section of scripture the Lord explains the “fulness” that He received.
And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; The Spirit of truth is of God … I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth; … He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.[2]
The fulness received by Jesus Christ includes truth or, in other words, knowledge. The Son of God set the example of continual learning. We should base our approach to learning on His example. In fact, there is one additional gem of insight given along with these two passages. The Lord says,
I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.[3]
Learning is more than just following the example set by Jesus in His mortal life, it is the essence of worship.
There is a pattern identified in the Lord’s revelation to Abraham. In Abraham 3:16 the Lord says, “If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them.” The Lord applies this to the reckoning of time on one planet compared to another with time being longer on each planet as you approach the Lord’s time. He next applied it to the greatness of the stars with one star closer than another to the Lord until you arrive at Kolob, the closest to the Lord. He finally applies this pattern to spirits where one is more intelligent than another with the Lord being more intelligent than them all.
It seems that this pattern might be profitably applied to learning. Any time we learn something we then also know that there are two levels of knowledge, i.e., the level before learning and the level after learning. The application of the Lord’s lesson to Abraham, then, is straightforward. It might go something like this, “If two levels of knowledge exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them.”
It seems that it is in the nature of people to enjoy learning, but to miss the opportunity to learn more. An example would be those who heard the Savior say in John 10: 16, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” They failed to ask who the “other sheep” are and, thus, failed to learn of their brethren, the Nephites. (See Denver Snuffer's Blog for more on the Nephites' failure to ask about the "other sheep.")
The Savior emphasized this point when he taught the Nephites in 3 Nephi 15:
18 And now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them.
19 But, verily, I say unto you that the Father hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their iniquity that they know not of you.
And, interestingly, there is no mention of the Nephites asking for more information about the yet other sheep the Savior told them about.
Nephi warns us of the severe consequences of learning a little and then being satisfied. His strong warning in 2 Nephi 28 is:
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 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.
The application of the pattern revealed to Abraham is clear. Through Nephi the Lord says that, “unto him that receiveth I will give more.” When we receive we go from one level of learning to another. Then, as long as we don’t fall into the trap of thinking we have enough, the Lord will give us more and our level of learning becomes greater above the previous levels. The end of continued learning is that we receive the fulness of the Father as described in D&C 76, 84, and 93, among others.
There are many ways in which we can fall into the trap of thinking, “A Bible! A Bible! I have a Bible!” as condemned by Nephi.[4] For example, we might study a passage of scripture and have a good insight through the inspiration of the spirit. We then have experienced the level of knowledge before, and the level of knowledge after, the inspired insight as proof that there is a level of knowledge still above what we have experienced. Yet, it is easy to have the moment of inspiration and close the scriptures with gratitude for having learned. We then might fail to go back for more thinking that we have learned, and that is enough.
In fact, Mormon warns of this very thing. Mormon tells us that we have only enough of the record of Jesus’ teachings to try our faith. In 3 Nephi 26 we have the following:
6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;
7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.
8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
9 And when they shall have received this, 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.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.
We must believe what we have received. The promise is explicit that there is more for us to learn. The fact that we have not received the rest of the record is a condemnation of how we have responded to what we have.
Mormon’s admonition is not just for us as a people but also for us individually. Concluding the record of his father, Moroni tells us that, “whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these” (Mormon 8:12). The Book of Mormon is meant to lead us to greater revelation. We need to read it as a guide. It provides a list of “to-do” items that will lead to greater learning (M. Catherine Thomas in, “Light in the Wilderness”).
How often do we fail to learn because we are satisfied with the good things we have received through scripture study, temple attendance or great teachers? Are we grateful for the things we learn, yet satisfied? Should we seek for more because we have proof that there is more that the Lord wants to give us? Remember, if we have experienced a level of knowledge before learning and a higher level of knowledge after learning then there exists yet a higher level of knowledge above those two. That yet higher level of knowledge is the next thing to seek for as we try to approach our Father in Heaven.
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