The day will come when some will proclaim, “We have received, and we need no more” (2
Nephi 28:27). They will claim they know
all they needed to know; they have read all they needed to read. When additional knowledge from the Lord comes
their way, they will reject it.
When confronting Zeezrom, Alma2 told him, “[T]hey 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…” (Alma 12:10-11).
During his ministry to the Nephites, the Savior also made
this principle clear. “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. 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).
Whenever I read this scripture, I always think of the
critics of the Church. They claim we
need nothing more than the Bible. They
refuse to accept the Lord would speak to man today. Researching this post, I came across a different
perspective. Dilworth Parkinson applies
this scripture to us as members of the Church.
His observations hit the nail on the head.
I'm not sure he is just referring
to nonmembers and nonbelievers when he said this, however. I wonder if he also
isn't referring to me as I sit in Sunday School class with one more lesson on
faith wondering what more I could possibly learn about faith. No matter how
much progress we have made, no matter what line we're on, we need more. We need
a firmer witness, a clearer and deeper understanding, and a more practical,
heart-changing incorporation of almost any gospel principle we could
contemplate. If we are satisfied with where we are, if we are pretty sure we
have the whole thing figured out, we are in effect saying: "We have
received, and we need no more." The point of this life is to grow and
progress, to become something so unbelievably far from where we are now that it
almost seems ridiculous to contemplate. Learning the language of the gospel to
the point of real native fluency—just like learning a foreign language as an
adult—is difficult and can seem impossible when we contemplate the gulf between
where we are and where we want to be. But God has given us a way to do it, and
if what Brigham Young says is right, we get to it a little at a time by
consistently working at it throughout our lives until the gospel gradually—and
through his grace—becomes a part of us, truly "written in our
hearts," one line at a time.[1]
I find it interesting how people react to the truth. When hearing the truth, many rejoice and
accept the word of God. On the other
hand, many get angry when they hear the truth.
Following up on Parkinson’s quote, this includes members of the
Church.
Immigration is a very hot political topic today (and has
been for the last few years). The Church
released a statement concerning immigration June 2011 (see the
statement here). The statement was
not appreciated by those who had a different stand on the issue. These people expressed their
disagreement. There’s nothing wrong with
having a different opinion on this issue than the Church. What appalled me was that, in this group,
there were regular, temple recommend holding, tithing paying members of the Church. They were angry with the leadership of the
Church. This went against their
cherished political philosophy. Response
reeked of anger towards the same Church leaders they had earlier
sustained. Sadly, anger with the word of
God is not limited to those who are not members of our Church.
(Note: I have my own
opinions on the immigration issue. I
also believe intelligent people can look at the same set of facts and come to
differing opinions. I respect those with
differing views from mine. But, I was
shocked when so-called “good” members of the Church addressed their leaders
with so much anger and hate. As Nephi
said earlier, we can’t be complacent. We
can’t say “All is well in Zion.” It isn’t.)
As he ended his record, Nephi wrote:
And
I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my
people. And the words which I have
written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do
good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and
persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.
And
it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth;
wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall
be of the spirit of the devil.
2 Nephi 33:4-5
[1] "We
Have Received, and We Need No More", Dilworth B. Parkinson,
Maxwell Institute, accessed December 8, 2013.
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