As an icebreaker for this block of scripture, I usually like to start with a little discussion. I've always loved to travel and see new places and go on backpacking trips and road trips. Maybe some of you share that same enthusiasm for seeing new places or experiencing new things. When you decide to go on a trip, how many of you are planners? Are you the type that likes to organize every detail, draw up an itinerary, highlight maps and plot out every aspect of your trip down to the minute? If so, why do you do that?
On the other hand, do we have any "fly by the seat of your pants" people, who like to just take things as they come. Just jump in the car and go, and let the trip happen to you? The "decide as you go" approach. Why do you do that?
Now I know what type of person I am. When it comes to a trip, I want the detailed itinerary. Especially if I'm planning a backpacking trip. I want to know the mileage that I'm going to be covering each day, where the water sources are, what the terrain will be like, how much elevation gain there will be, what the temperatures are going to reach. I don't like leaving things up to chance.
Now which of the two ways does God seem to work with us and his church as we travel through life. Does he give us an end from the beginning, fully mapped out, planned, detailed journey through life? Or does he seem to give us information as we go? Is he an "All at once" kind of being or a "little by little" kind of being?
Well, check out 2 Nephi 28:30 for the answer:
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.
Apparently, God prefers to work with us on a "little by little" basis. Now that's not to say that he doesn't give us any information about the future. I mean, it is called "the plan" of salvation after all. But that's more about giving us a big picture view of things, an eternal perspective. The scriptures and the living prophets also provide us with guidance and prophecy and even patriarchal blessings help us anticipate future opportunities and responsibilities. But when it comes down to everyday living and navigating the challenges and opportunities of our day to day lives, He seems more apt to give us guidance as we go. Remember Nephi and the brass plates?
1 Nephi 4:6 "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do".
Well that seems to be a pretty good description of how I feel most of the time. I usually don't know beforehand the things which I should do. And it's this way with the Church as well. God didn't hand over to the 14-year-old Joseph "the manual" with the complete handbook to the fulness of the restored gospel in the sacred grove. He didn't give him the thumb drive with the full download of the fulness. It came line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and I believe it continues to be this way. The church has just kept right on receiving and adding guidance and help all the way down to President Nelson. And it may take some humility to admit this about the church, but I believe that we still don't have ALL the truth God has to give. There is more to come.
TRANSITION
Well this to me is the Spirit of sections 51-57. These sections give us "here a little and there a little" kinds of truths. When we talk about BIG, IMPORTANT, GROUNDBREAKING sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that really seem to stand out in your mind, sections 51-57 usually aren't going to come up. But there are still some great and powerful things in these sections too. Scripture is scripture and every page has value and something to offer us. I would call these “line upon line" sections. In most cases, we've already been introduced to the big ideas of these sections. Things like consecration, preaching the gospel, recognizing truth--we've gone into great detail on these subjects. But God has more to say about these things. So, we're going to see him add a few more "lines" of understanding for us.
SEARCH
Case in point. Take a look at the following verses and see if you can find the "line upon line" phrase. Here we go:
51:16-17
16 And I consecrate unto them this land for a little season, until I, the Lord, shall provide for them otherwise, and command them to go hence;
17 And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good.
Now both verses really illustrate the principle, but the line I would specifically draw out is "And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years” Do you get what he's saying there? He says they aren't going to be there forever, that Ohio was to be a temporary stopping point for them. They're only going to be there for a "little season". Still, at this point, he's not going to tell them when they're going to leave, but that they should get to work AS IF they were going to be there for years. And that's kind of a cool principle actually. Even if we know we're only going to be in a certain ward, or calling, or responsibility for a short amount of time, we should act as if we are going to be there for years. In other words, put down deep roots, even if it's temporary. We might be tempted to think, "Oh, we're moving in and out of this area soon, best not to create ties, or really work our hardest". Let's just take a break. Or with a calling. I'm not going to be here for very long, why throw myself into it. God says, no matter what you think the time frame is going to be, throw yourself into it as if it was the last thing you were ever going to do. When my wife and I were first assigned to go to Arizona to teach, we were under the impression that it would be short term. But 4 years actually turned into 14. What if we had spent that entire time thinking, oh, next year we're leaving, next year we're leaving and decided not to put down roots? We would have missed out on some great opportunities and friendships over the years.
52:2
2 Saying: I, the Lord, will make known unto you what I will that ye shall do from this time until the next conference, which shall be held in Missouri, upon the land which I will consecrate unto my people, which are a remnant of Jacob, and those who are heirs according to the covenant.
What's the phrase? I, the Lord, will make known unto you what I will that ye shall do from this time until the next conference,
So, I'm just going to give you enough to get you to the next conference. Just for the next couple of months, and then, verse 4
52:4
4 And inasmuch as they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do;
So stay faithful, and then I will make more known unto you in the future
53:6
6 Behold, these are the first ordinances which you shall receive; and the residue shall be made known in a time to come, according to your labor in my vineyard.
The phrase? "the residue shall be made known in a time to come"
I'll give you some of my ordinances now, but there are more coming! So hang on.
55:6
6 And again, let my servant Joseph Coe also take his journey with them. The residue shall be made known hereafter, even as I will. Amen.
So here: The residue shall be made known hereafter, even as I will. There's that word again "residue". The rest. The whole picture. The full guidance. I don't know about you, but I think most of us don't want residues, we don't want to wait for the rest. We want to know it all beforehand. But God gives line upon line.
57:16
16 And unto the residue of both elders and members further directions shall be given hereafter. Even so. Amen.
That's an easy one. "further directions shall be given hereafter"
Again, Little by little. Further directions coming "hereafter" rather than "now".
58:56
And I know this is cheating a little, but let's add section 58:56 to this mix as well. It's got such a good phrase in it.
56 And let the work of the gathering be not in haste, nor by flight; but let it be done as it shall be counseled by the elders of the church at the conferences, according to the knowledge which they receive from time to time.
Did you see it there? "according to the knowledge which they receive from time to time".
So there you have it, ample examples of the "little by little, precept upon precept" principle in these sections.
DISCUSS
That leaves us with a very important discussion question to examine: "Why does God do this?" Why doesn't he just give us all the information at once? Wouldn't it be easier that way? Why make us go little by little when it would be much more comforting and direct to let us know the end from the beginning?
Let your class wrestle with that one for a bit. I believe there's a lot of good answers to that question that they could bring up.
Here are a few of my thoughts.
One, if we go back to the initial verse I shared from Second Nephi, it says:
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.
Evidently, truth is earned through obedience, and conversely, it is lost through disobedience. God wants to see how we will act on the given truth, before he starts bestowing additional truth. If he gave it all at once, it would almost be like "casting his pearls before swine". He's going to hold off on giving us the deeper and more profound aspects of the gospel until we've proven ourselves deserving of it.
Another thought. Consider Doctrine and Covenants 19:22
22 For they cannot bear meat now, but milk they must receive; wherefore, they must not know these things, lest they perish. Some things he holds back out of mercy and wisdom because he knows we're just not ready for it. Like you wouldn't feed a baby a giant steak and a baked potato. They're not able or ready to digest such foods. So God is going to start easy with us--with just the milk, and then "little by little" start feeding us more and more solid foods of truth. There is accountability that comes with understanding. Therefore, out of a sense of mercy, he's going to ease us into those commandments and truths, lest we get overwhelmed with the instruction and responsibility.
Another thought. The "little by little" principle requires us to develop faith. It teaches us to trust in God and walk by the light of our belief. Like with rock climbing. I have to have total faith in my equipment, that the rope is not going to break, that my harness is secure, that the anchor will not fail. If I don't have that faith in my equipment, then there are heights and views and accomplishments that I am going to miss.
I love this little story told shared by Elder Boyd K. Packer when he had been given a very specific instruction on what he needed to do, but couldn't see the way how. He says:
“Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do.
“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you’” (“The Edge of the Light,” BYU Today, Mar. 1991, 22–23).
So the "line upon line" principle can also act as a trial of faith, helping us to lean more and more on our Heavenly Father for direction.
There are many other reasons that your students might want to discuss, but the truth of the matter is:
TRUTH
God gives us truth line upon line, and precept upon precept. If we act on the truth that we are given, he will provide us with more and more as we go.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Have you ever had a "line upon line" experience? A time when you felt God gave you additional understanding as you went, little by little?
CONCLUSION
Well, even though I'm an "end from the beginning" kind of guy, I'm very grateful for the way in which the Lord works with us. It does make perfect sense that he do it that way. Some things we're just not meant to get all at once. Life, after all, is a journey, and great joy can come from the unexpected and the new. Like climbing a mountain, something is lost in just taking the helicopter to the top all at once. The growth, the strength, the experience, the new views around every bend would all be compromised by that approach. Remember the story of Jesus and the feeding of the five thousand. The purpose of that miracle was not to provide everyone with a free lunch, but was a symbolic lesson intended to teach us something about his word, his gospel. They all ate and were filled, but there were still twelve baskets left over. What's the moral of the miracle? We can't eat all his truth at once. There is only so much we can consume before we are filled. Still, we've got those twelve baskets waiting to provide us with nourishment for future feasts. So we can take our time. Feast often and feast deeply on his words, but realize there is much, much more to gain in the future. Enjoy the journey of truth, here a little, and there a little, until one day, we really will have the FULLNESS of his gospel.
That's a good principle to keep in mind as a teacher as well. As you teach your students, don't try to give them all twelve baskets at once. Pick a few truths, zero in on a few ideas, and realize that there will be more for them to learn at some future date. Don't feel like you need to feed them everything. It's impossible anyway. People reach a point where they are full and need some time to digest what's been taught.
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