The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel - Scriptures and Quotes

Lesson 7, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual

Reading 1 – Joseph Smith said:  “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843–44, p.348)

Reading 2 – Brother Stephen R. Covey wrote:  "Let us never stray from forcefully, clearly, explicitly declaring our faith in Jesus Christ as the first principle of the gospel, as the foundation principle, as the principle from which all other gospel principles derive their power and efficacy, as the integrating, organizing, unifying, harmonizing principle. . . . He is the head of our church. It bears his name. We belong to his kingdom. He is the Truth, the Way, the Life, the Light. He is our advocate and mediator, our Savior and Redeemer. We have taken upon ourselves his name. Through the gospel and the spiritual rebirth we become his children, his sons and his daughters. He is the driving force."  (The Divine Center, p84)

Reading 3 – Doctrine and Covenants 19:23

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 88:118

Reading 5 – Brigham Young said :  "If mankind could know the object God has in their creation, and what they might obtain by doing right and by applying to the source and fountain of wisdom for information, how quickly they would turn away from every ungodly action and custom." (Journal of Discourses, 10:208) 

Reading 6 – Doctrine and Covenants 20:69

Reading 7 – Enos 1:11

Reading 8 – Jacob 4:6

Reading 9 – Doctrine and Covenants 58:42

Reading 10 - Jeffrey R. Holland has said, "When [Jesus] says to the poor in spirit, 'Come unto me,' He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way." ("Broken Things to Mend", General Conference, April, 2006)

Reading 11 – Doctrine and Covenants 18:11-13

Reading 12 – Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

Lesson 6: “I Will Tell You in Your Mind and in Your Heart, by the Holy Ghost” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – President Henry B. Eyring wrote: “The trials of mortality may increase in intensity, yet for us, darkness need not increase if we focus our eyes more singly on the light that streams down on us as we follow the Master. He will lead us and help us along the path that leads upward to the home for which we yearn.” (Ensign, December, 2009)

Sister Julie B. Beck wrote, “Relief Society presidents who get on their knees and ask Heavenly Father to tell them what they need to learn will have revelation pouring down to them in beauty and detail.” (Liahona, September, 2010)

Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3

Reading 3 - Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve taught: “Visions do happen. Voices are heard from beyond the veil. I know this. But these experiences are exceptional. … Most of the revelation that comes to leaders and members of the Church comes by the still, small voice or by a feeling rather than by a vision or a voice that speaks specific words we can hear. I testify to the reality of that kind of revelation, which I have come to know as a familiar, even daily, experience to guide me in the work of the Lord” (“Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 14)

Joseph Fielding McConkie, the son of Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle and marvelous scriptorian and student of church doctrine and the grandson of President Joseph Fielding Smith, also a noted scriptorian and student of church doctrine, tells the following storie: “I had a father and two grandfathers who shared a great love of the gospel and who had devoted their lives to its study. They were a marvelous source of understanding.

I have, however, a very distinct memory of the occasion that I went to my father with some gospel questions only to receive the following response: “Look, Junior, you have the same sources available to you as I have to me.”

More important than any answers these men gave to my questions was their teaching me how to get answers for myself. They are now gone. Questions continue, as does the confidence that the same sources that were available to them are available to me.” (Finding Answers, BYU Devotional, December 12, 2006)

Reading 4 – Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve taught: “These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels more than one hears” (That All May Be Edified [1982], 335).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks cautioned: “Some [people] have looked exclusively for the great manifestations that are recorded in the scriptures and have failed to recognize the still, small voice that is given to them. … We need to know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come in a whisper. …

“Not understanding these principles of revelation, some people postpone acknowledging their testimony until they have experienced a miraculous event. They fail to realize that with most people … gaining a testimony is not an event but a process” (Ensign, Mar. 1997, 11–12, 14).

Reading 5 – Doctrine and Covenants 11:13-14

Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8

Luke 24:32

Reading 6 - President Boyd K. Packer explained: “This burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm light shining within your being” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “I have met persons who told me they have never had a witness from the Holy Ghost because they have never felt their bosom ‘burn within’ them. What does a ‘burning in the bosom’ mean? Does it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom. Surely, the word ‘burning’ in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity” (Ensign,Mar. 1997, 13).

Doctrine and Covenants 88:68

Reading 7 - Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught: “The Lord will speak to us through the Spirit in his own time and in his own way. Many people do not understand this principle. They believe that when they are ready and when it suits their convenience, they can call upon the Lord and he will immediately respond, even in the precise way they have prescribed. Revelation does not come that way. …

“The principle stated in [D&C 88:68] applies to every communication from our Heavenly Father: ‘It shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.’ We cannot force spiritual things” (Ensign, Mar. 1997, 10–11).

Reading 8 - Elder Boyd K. Packer counseled: “Sometimes you may struggle with a problem and not get an answer. What could be wrong? It may be that you are not doing anything wrong. It may be that you have not done the right things long enough. Remember, you cannot force spiritual things. Sometimes we are confused simply because we won’t take no for an answer. …

“Put difficult questions in the back of your minds and go about your lives. Ponder and pray quietly and persistently about them.

“The answer may not come as a lightning bolt. It may come as a little inspiration here and a little there, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept’ (D&C 98:12).

“Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration. The promptings will be clear and unmistakable” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 29–30; or Ensign, Nov. 1979, 21).

President Joseph F. Smith wrote the following: “When I as a boy first started out in the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 7).