Hearken to the Lord's Precepts

I recently heard a friend in our ward talk about the various approaches we take when we read the Book of Mormon. One in particular caught my attention. He described the process of reading for some number of minutes, pages, or chapters per day as treating the Book of Mormon like comfort food. This is not always the case with regular reading. Yet, we can often fall into a comfortable pattern of enjoying the satisfaction of reading every day without actually getting to the real purpose of our reading. It is comforting to do a good thing, yet we may miss the real power of the Book of Mormon.

In the introduction to the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” This is a promise that can be tested. We can abide by the precepts of the Book of Mormon and see if we, in fact, get nearer to God. (Just to be sure I am understanding this promise, I looked up the word precept and found that it means, "a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.")

Near the end of his record, Nephi teaches us something very important about people in our day. Nephi warns, in 2 Nephi 28:

  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.

Nephi saw our day. And, in speaking to us he warned us that we might be tempted to feel that we have received the word of God and that we have enough. We have been blessed with abundant modern scripture. Yet, we might feel that simply having, and reading, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price is enough.

Joseph Smith promises us that if we abide by the precepts of the Book of Mormon we will draw closer to God. Nephi reinforces that promise with the added insight that as we hearken to God's precepts we will receive line upon line, precept upon precept. And when we receive more, God will give us more. These are wonderful promises that require active reading to receive the blessings.

I want to suggest an approach to active reading that I have found to be very effective. Here is a process that can be followed to actively hearken to, and abide by, the precepts of God taught in the Book of Mormon. First, as you read, notice any verse that seems to catch your attention. At first you may not even know quite why that verse (or passage) caught your attention. Stop and think about what precept may be taught by that passage of scripture. Write down the reference and the precept. Then, look for other places in scripture where that same precept may be taught. Comparing other scriptures will enhance your understanding the of the precept. Next, translate what you learned into something you can do as an experiment to see if the precept does, in fact, bring you closer to God. Spend a week (or more if needed) living the precept as you pray and ask to understand and to be closer to God. Finally, write down what you learned through the experience.

The steps are summarized as follows:

Precept (Identify a precept that will help you get closer to God. Include the Book of Mormon reference containing the precept.) 

Other Scriptures that Teach the Precept (Identify other scriptures that teach the same precept either directly or indirectly through stories or analogy.) 

What You Can Do to Live this Precept (Determine what specific actions you could take to live this precept to see if you get closer to God.) 

Your Experience (Write down what you learned based upon your experience trying to live the precept you have identified. Be honest. Do you feel closer to God? Did you misunderstand the precept? Did you learn that living the precept requires something different than you thought? Really learn from what you are doing.) 

If you repeat this process week after week, you will soon find that each of these experiments has become a building block in the foundation of your testimony of the Book of Mormon (See Alma 32:26-27). You will know that abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon brings you closer to God. You will know Jesus Christ better because the Book of Mormon testifies of Him.

I have written about the importance of learning before (Click here for that post). I believe that we must be pro-active in our learning. It is not enough to feel good about the Word of God. We must allow it to guide us. We must come to know God through the process of obeying His commandments. One way to do this is to notice the commandments that are implicit in the precepts taught in the Book of Mormon. We are promised that when we obey His commandments we will have His Spirit to be with us.


(Note: Here is a link to the form I give my students.)

One more quote from Hugh B. Brown:

"When the gospel was restored, the Lord advised us, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, that a great and marvelous work was to come forth. Since that time there has been a revolution in knowledge in all fields of human endeavor. It is therefore incumbent upon us to be well informed and proficient through study, reading and prayer. The Lord never puts a premium on sluggish thinking. Sluggishness of spirit is most deplorable. We must be prepared to meet men of science and knowledge and present to them the gospel in the light of what they already have. (From a BYU Devotional Address, June 9, 1964)

Here is a quote from President Hugh B. Brown that I find very inspiring. It is from an address to BYU faculty given on September 11, 1961:

You will have a greater influence on a greater number of people in the church than any other group, for you will meet ten thousand of them each day. We meet them once a week, perhaps, and then we meet only a few. We meet them under different circumstances and talk down to them and they go away smiling, perhaps. But you are right down there among them, and we want to charge you with the responsibility of filling in where we fail. Give to them your individual testimonies of the divinity of this work.

The Pursuit of Truth

I found the following quote in "Be Aware-Beware" given at BYU on May 24, 1962 by Hugh B. Brown:

Be dauntless in your pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity. No one would have you become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts. Be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and also by faith. There have been times when progress was halted by thought control. Tolerance and truth demand that all be heard and that competing ideas be tested against each other so that the best, which might not always be your own, can prevail.

The Key of the Ministering of Angels

The Aaronic priesthood is often described as the "preparatory priesthood." Often, the preparation is thought of as young men being prepared for the Melchizedek priesthood. While this is appropriate and leads to many good insights about the service a young man renders while holding the Aaronic priesthood, the words "preparatory priesthood" are not found in scripture. Rather, we find in D&C 84: 26-27, "[The Aaronic] priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments ..."

Notice that the keys held by the Aaronic priesthood include the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel, including the gospel of repentance, baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments. Thus, holding the key of the preparatory gospel makes the Aaronic priesthood a preparatory priesthood. In other words, rather than the focus being on the preparation of young men for the Melchizedek priesthood, the focus is on the Aaronic priesthood holding the keys that prepare members of the church for the higher blessings available through the Melchizedek priesthood.

While the preparatory gospel seems familiar, I have long wondered about the key of the ministering of Angels. The scriptures contain many stories of literal appearances of angels. Yet, when I was a young holder of the Aaronic priesthood I never saw an angel. In addition, I was unsure of how the key of the ministering of angels worked. In a wonderful talk called, "The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament," (General Conference, October 1998) Elder Dallin H. Oaks explains:

But the ministering of angels can also be unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by a voice or merely by thoughts or feelings communicated to the mind. President John Taylor described “the action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive … revelations from the eternal world” (Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1987], 31). 

Nephi described three manifestations of the ministering of angels when he reminded his rebellious brothers that (1) they had “seen an angel,” (2) they had “heard his voice from time to time,” and (3) also that an angel had “spoken unto [them] in a still small voice” though they were “past feeling” and “could not feel his words” (1 Ne. 17:45). The scriptures contain many other statements that angels are sent to teach the gospel and bring men to Christ (see Heb. 1:14; Alma 39:19; Moro. 7:25, 29, 31–32; D&C 20:35). Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen. 

How does the Aaronic Priesthood hold the key to the ministering of angels? The answer is the same as for the Spirit of the Lord. 

In general, the blessings of spiritual companionship and communication are only available to those who are clean. As explained earlier, through the Aaronic Priesthood ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, we are cleansed of our sins and promised that if we keep our covenants we will always have His Spirit to be with us. I believe that promise not only refers to the Holy Ghost but also to the ministering of angels, for “angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ” (2 Ne. 32:3). So it is that those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood open the door for all Church members who worthily partake of the sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the ministering of angels. 

I love this insight. We become clean as we begin to exercise faith sufficient to repent of our sins and, as a result of baptism, enjoy the blessings of the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Thus, it seems that the key of the ministering of angels is intertwined with the key of the preparatory gospel because it is by receiving the preparatory gospel that we begin to receive the guidance of angels who speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. What a remarkable blessing it is to know that our Father in Heaven loves us enough to provide guidance through the power of the Holy Ghost, including angels who speak by that power. As Alma said in Alma 32:

  23 And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned.

This promise is to all men, women and children. Those who are clean, or become clean through the preparatory gospel, receive God's word through angels working by the power of the Holy Ghost. And, as Nephi taught his brothers, that will include angels speaking by a still small voice. With time, that voice may grow into a voice that is heard, or even the literal appearance of angels. But, even if we don't literally see angels, there is great peace in knowing that we can be guided by the "still small voice" of angels speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost. I am very grateful for the the preparatory gospel and for the ministering of angels.