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.)

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.

If Two Things Exist ...

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.

---

[1] Doctrine & Covenants 93: 12-14.

[2] Doctrine & Covenants 93: 24, 26, 28.

[3] Doctrine & Covenants 93: 19.

[4] See 2 Nephi 29: 3.

Brigham Young on Individual Learning

I really like this quote from Brigham Young about our individual ability and opportunity to be taught directly by God.

Our motive is to make every man and woman to know just as much as we do; this is the plan of the Gospel, and this is what I would like to do. I would like all the Latter-day Saints to come up to this standard, and know as much as I do, and then just as much more as they can learn, and if they can get ahead of me, all right. I can then have the privilege of following after them. If they keep up close to me, so that they will understand as I do the workings of the Spirit, they will do a good deal better than they do now. But the beauty and excellency of the wisdom that God has revealed to us is to fill everybody with wisdom, bringing them up to the highest standard of knowledge and wisdom, purifying us and preparing us to enter into the highest state of glory, knowledge and power, that we may become fit associates of the Gods and be prepared to dwell with them. This I say is the beauty and glory of the great knowledge that God has revealed unto the Latter-day Saints. You may ask in what particular? In every particular. For the knowledge men possess of every science, every art, every study there is, and every branch of mechanism known to men, they are indebted to the Lord. True men may have been taught it by his fellow man and he may have discovered much himself; but all originated with God our Heavenly Father, through his agents to the children of men. The faith and philosophy of our religion comprehends all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and I wish I was able to say a little better than I am, endures all things. But we must endure all things that we cannot help, enduring patiently until we are counted worthy to be free.

- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 19: 98

Time and Repentance

Time is inexorable.  We move through time, moment by moment, until mortal life is done.  Each future moment becomes the present and then the past.  And, once past, it is gone.  Imagine a task that needs to be done.  Every day, or even every minute, that we postpone the task is a day or minute less that is available to do the task.  Mortality is limited by death and death creates a limit to the time available for us to do our work in mortality.  Consider Alma 12:

  24 And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.

One of the key works of mortality is to experience the bitterness of sin and the goodness that comes through repentance.  Our father Adam was taught (see Moses 6):

  55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.

  56 And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.

  57 Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; ...

When we learn that our life is in some way not in harmony with God we taste the bitterness of sin.  When we repent we know the goodness of God and His Son.  At first we may be motivated by the deadlines created by time and death in mortality.  But, through experience we may find that we prize the good for its own sake.  We begin to learn, repent, and grow because that is what we love to do.

Once we become someone who learns because of the love of the word of God and we repent because of our trust in Jesus Christ, we are ready for the eternal life where there is no time.  Imagine, with no death and no time, there is no less time after procrastination than there was before procrastination.  I might sit and watch a canyon form before getting to work because I have not lost any time in watching the eons pass while a canyon forms.  If I have not learned to love learning and progressing in this life, it may be very difficult to learn in a life with no time and, thus, no deadlines.  With no time and no deadlines, I will only do that which I have come to find intrinsically motivating.  Maybe this observation is related to the verse in D&C 130:

 19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

Temple and Morning Light

I was walking up to the temple one morning just as the sun was lighting up Rock Canyon in the background.  I stopped and snapped this picture because I love the imagery of light.  The morning light breaking over the temple as I walked up the hill just made me stop and contemplate.  Two verses of scripture come together to give meaning to this image:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. - John 8: 12

For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house. - D&C 110: 7

Because the temple has been a key to my journey to know my Savior, Jesus Christ, I see it as a place where the Light of Christ is visible.  We walk in the light as the Lord is manifest to us in the temple.  I see the temple as a symbol of the Lord being among us.  I see light as a symbol of the learning that is available as we turn to the Lord through scripture study and temple worship.

This I Know ...

Often in our LDS tradition we talk of the things we “know.” But, from time to time I wonder what it means to “know” a thing. For example, I have a brother who I claim to know. Yet, despite a lifetime of experience, beginning with us living in the same home and continuing with very regular contact, there is much I do not know about him. It is true that I know his name and his outward appearance. I know some of his likes or dislikes. I even how to push his buttons, so to speak, if I want to play the part of the tormenting older brother again. The reality is, though, there is much that I do not know about his inner feelings, hopes, and dreams as well as experiences he has had when I have not been present. 

Just recently I learned something about an experience my brother had in high school that I had not known before. Does this new story invalidate my claim to know my brother? Not in the least. What I knew before, I still know. Now, I just know him a little better, in a little more detail.

Another example of “knowing” a thing is the classic story of the blind men and the elephant. This story is found in Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and other traditions. There is a version by John Godfrey Saxe that I will quote in part:

It was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined, 

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind), 

That each by observation 

Might satisfy his mind.

In subsequent verses we learn that these six men each touched a different part of the elephant. Each declared their discovery that an elephant was like: a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan, or a rope. The concluding verses close the story:

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long, 

Each in his own opinion 

Exceeding stiff and strong, 

Though each was partly in the right, 

And all were in the wrong! 

So, oft in theologic wars 

The disputants, I ween, 

Rail on in utter ignorance 

Of what each other mean, 

And prate about an Elephant 

Not one of them has seen! 

Often we experience a religious principle, teaching or doctrine and feel that we know something about it. Just like my claim to know my brother, there is real substance to our sincere knowledge of religious principles. But, like the blind men and the elephant, our view of a particular principle may be limited to just one facet or aspect. What we know may be correct, as far as it goes, but may not be complete. Many disagreements are born of “testimony” that is correct, even supported by the witness of the Spirit, yet incomplete.

Similar to me knowing my brother, or the blind men knowing about an elephant, I claim to know four things that we refer to as the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. And I have, in fact, learned something about each of these four. I know their names, some basic descriptions, a few anecdotes based upon experience, and have even felt the confirmation of the Spirit that these principles and ordinances are of God. At times I have even been tempted to feel that I know these things well enough to get bored when they come up, yet again, in a talk or a lesson. After all, I have attended over 2,300 sacrament meetings and Sunday School classes, 1,800 priesthood lessons, 700 seminary classes, as well as innumerable family home evenings, stake conferences and general conferences where these first four principles and ordinances have been discussed. I have never found a reason to doubt these four things. In fact, as I mentioned, I have often felt the warm reassurance of the Holy Ghost that these things are true.

Yet, there is much I do not yet know. This is an important start to further learning. One of the greatest obstacles to learning is the thought that we already know enough. If, on the other hand, we realize that we are like one of the blind men and that there are more aspects of the elephant to experience, then we can continue to learn. In fact, once all the blind men experience the entire elephant, their disagreements will likely be resolved. 

One of the best learning experiences I have had is to set aside what I think I know and turn to the scriptures to see what they really teach about a principle or ordinance. Often I find that my past understanding is basically correct, yet incomplete. Always I find that the scriptures teach about Jesus Christ. I learn more about Him every time I search the scriptures. In subsequent posts I will share some of what I have learned. I hope you will accept these contemplations as just one blind man's views of Jesus Christ.