There have been times when I have had wonderful insights into gospel topics. I have had vistas of information open in my mind and I suddenly was able to comprehend things I had never even considered before. Then there are those times when I feel as dull as a rock, and spiritual knowledge feels like an untranslated foreign language.

What is Spiritual Knowledge?

Spiritual knowledge is the knowledge of anything that is spiritual in nature. If you don’t understand something of a spiritual nature, some would call that thing a mystery. Knowledge of spiritual things are only mysteries as long as we don’t understand them. Once we comprehend them they are no longer a mystery.

An example of a mystery is tithing. The law is simple. There is nothing complicated about tithing. The Lord says we are to pay 10% of our increase (our gross income), and in return He will bless us by opening the windows of heaven. That is where the mysteries come in.

What does the Lord mean by the windows of heaven? How can we possibly be blessed physically in our work, or financially, or even spiritually, just because we give 10% to the Lord? Does that even make sense to the rational mind?

This is the puzzle every commandment poses. The Lord sets the standard, and all standards have promises attached. It is up to us to exercise our faith in the Lord and obey the standard, the commandment, then expect the promised blessing. We don’t have to understand how He does it, we just have to expect that He understands how it works, and that He will honor His promises and deliver the goods He said would be ours if we obeyed.

Let’s look at what the prophet Malachi taught in Malachi 3:10 – 12. This is a direct challenge from the Lord to prove Him to see if He is really a God of truth. This is a simple law, one of the easiest to live, mainly because it is so straight forward and direct. He promises us that if we will do this specific physical act then He will give us this laundry list of blessings.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

The Israelites were an agricultural nation. Their work was in the fields. That is why he specifically refers to the blessing of their crops. If there is one thing a farmer is acquainted with it is ruined crops because of blight, insects, plant diseases, etc. The Lord goes beyond good crops and promises those who obey this law will also prosper as a people to the point that all nations would call them a blessed people. The status or prosperity of the whole nation would be such that even the neighboring nations would recognize that something was different about them that made them more prosperous than all the other nations.

So where does the spiritual knowledge come from in paying our tithing? Ask anyone who has gained a testimony of tithing because they have lived the law for a time. They will be, in many instances hard pressed to explain just how they have been blessed, but they will fiercely defend the paying of tithing because they have had so many things happen to bless them they can’t explain that they wouldn’t dare miss paying their tithing.

I have had weird things happen when paying my tithing. I figured out my income and compared it to my bills. My choice boiled down to paying rent or paying tithing. Or paying my utility bill or paying tithing. Every time I payed my tithing somehow there was money to also pay the other bill. I may not be a mathematical genius, but I know a minor miracle when I see one. The Lord evidently doesn’t use common core math when He calculates.

I have had the same kinds of blessings happen when I have helped to support missionaries on their missions. I can’t put my finger on any one blessing, but I know for a fact that during those two years our home was blessed beyond what was normal. We “prospered” in spiritual ways, in social ways, in family ways that were above and beyond the norm. They were happy years.

This is one form of spiritual knowledge. It is an understanding that the Lord is working in your life in ways you do not comprehend. In this way not only do we have revelation of the Lord’s presence in our life, but we also have a new mystery presented to us that wasn’t there before. How does He do it? Personally, I’m more interested in knowing that I am pleasing the Lord, and that He is blessing me. That shows me that He is interested in me and that He is acutely aware of my personal and everyday behavior. This creates a much more intimate relationship between the two of us.

Where does Spiritual Knowledge Come From?

Spiritual knowledge is the result of obedience to commandments. We are commanded to read scriptures and ponder or think deeply about what they might mean in our lives, and the resulting insights we receive is spiritual knowledge.

Spiritual knowledge comes through the Holy Ghost. His role in the Godhead is to testify to all truth, and to reveal all truth. As quickly as we are able to grasp a truth and live it, He will reveal it. But we have to be seeking to learn. This is what happens to us when we live the law of tithing, or the Word of Wisdom, or any other law of Christ’s gospel.

Each time we seek new knowledge by obeying a commandment or choosing to continue living an old commandment, we open ourselves to the opportunity to learn more about how the Lord can bless us through our obedience.

One of the things we have to get used to is the idea that we can, and are supposed to, receive personal revelation. When we think of revelation we think of the great prophets who had visions and visitations from angelic messengers. Yes, that is a form of revelation. But revelation means to have something revealed to us. If that is an idea on how to start the car that we hadn’t thought of before, it doesn’t make it any less of a form of revelation.

By virtue of the fact that we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, each time the Holy Ghost prompts us, opens our mind to help us understand something we didn’t grasp before, that is revelation. The more the merrier.

This is where spiritual knowledge comes from. The Holy Ghost is the soul dispenser of spiritual knowledge. He opens our minds and enlarges our capacity to understand. By the same token, if we are disobedient and stop obeying the commandments, he can shut down or shrivel our capacity to comprehend spiritual things.

It is important to understand and remember that spiritual knowledge can be taken away from us just as easily as it can be given. In Mark 4: 24 – 25 we are shown this principle. It is repeated elsewhere in the scriptures as well, but here is one example of the lesson.

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.

This is the law of spiritual things – either we are gaining more knowledge through obedience or we are losing knowledge through disobedience. There is no such thing as stasis or a holding pattern where you attain so much knowledge and no one can take it away from you. In spiritual things if you are not gaining, you are losing. That is the nature of the beast. This is why we are told to search the scriptures daily, pray daily, remember Christ in all we do, etc.

This is actually a protection for us. If we understand something we will be held accountable for it. If we have no understanding we cannot be held accountable for it. Unfortunately, we cannot be saved in ignorance. The Lord expects us to be constantly seeking Him out and trying to learn more.

How Can I Control How Much I Know?

How much we learn, and how fast we learn it in spiritual matters, depends on how much we desire it. If we really want to know if something is true, we have to live the principle and test the promise associated with it. All commandments have promises and blessings attached. Commandments are not given to us randomly. They are given because each has a purpose and a blessing attached.

We are in control of whether we are drawing closer to the Holy Ghost or shutting Him out of our lives. It all depends on the choices we make each day and each hour. If we want to change the mysteries of the gospel into knowledge of the gospel, we have that in our control. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it will happen.

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Remember that spiritual knowledge comes only as we prepare ourselves to receive and live it. Once received we must live it or it is taken away from us, and we are left even more in the dark than before. That is the rule of spiritual progression. But isn’t it nice to know that we are in control? If I don’t understand a principle of the gospel, I can work towards having it revealed to me by obeying all the commandments I already know. When I pray for knowledge and actively seek understanding the Holy Ghost will give it just as quickly as I have prepared myself to receive it. The sky is the limit. God’s plan for our happiness, our salvation, is ours for the understanding, but only as quickly as we can prepare ourselves to understand it.

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Secular and Spiritual Learning