D&C 80

As Steven Burnett was given the charge to preach the gospel, the Lord said -

"...declare the things which ye have heard, and verily believe, and know to be true." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 80:4)

At that time, the Book of Commandments or the Doctrine and Covenants had not been published so Brother Burnett was to declare these things which he had heard. Had these revelations been published, I'm sure the Lord would have referred to those revelations that had been written. This scripture suggests that the more we study and learn, the better we will be prepared to declare the things we have heard. I recently was asked by some youth why it is so important to attend Seminary. My response would be that it better helps us declare these things we hear as well as increase our knowledge of their truthfulness. Many years ago, Elder Orson Pratt commented -

"I have been abroad with several companies of missionaries from this place, and I have seen them lament and mourn, and have heard them tell their feelings one to another, saying—‘O that I had occupied my time that I have spent as it were in folly, in treasuring up the principles of eternal life,—that I had studied the scriptures—that I had made myself acquainted more extensively with the doctrines of the Church—that I had made myself acquainted with those principles revealed from heaven for our guidance! I should then have been prepared to stand before the inhabitants of the earth and edify them with regard to our principles." (In Journal of Discourses, 7:76.)