D&C 42:14 And Teaching

[Damien the Leper]

14 And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.

On the surface, this part of Sec. 42 speaks clearly of teaching others and maintaining the frame of mind to teach. I read the Section several times this weekend as I watched conference (3 of the sessions on my own...shocking, right?) this verse and the surrounding verses resonated granted there were many people teaching this weekend. My question is...how does one fully prepare to teach in the manner that Sec. 42:14 speaks of? Furthermore, how does one know that the full potential of teaching has been met by the adherence to the qualities spoken of?

Edited October 3, 2011 by Valentinus

[zerinus]

On the surface, this part of Sec. 42 speaks clearly of teaching others and maintaining the frame of mind to teach. I read the Section several times this weekend as I watched conference (3 of the sessions on my own...shocking, right?) this verse and the surrounding verses resonated granted there were many people teaching this weekend. My question is...how does one fully prepare to teach in the manner that Sec. 42:14 speaks of? Furthermore, how does one know that the full potential of teaching has been met by the adherence to the qualities spoken of?

The answer to your question is given in these verses:

D&C 50:

17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.

19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

20 If it be some other way it is not of God.

21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?

22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

23 And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.

D&C 52:

14 And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

15 Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.

16 He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.

17 And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you.

18 And again, he that is overcome and bringeth not forth fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me.

19 Wherefore, by this pattern ye shall know the spirits in all cases under the whole heavens.

[KevinG]

I like this topic...

I have taught secularly and in church. My experience with being prepared is two fold.

Temporally we need to have our curricula (information, lesson plans, activities) in order to minimize distraction in the classroom and keep participants engaged.

Spiritually we need to be attuned to the Holy Spirit so that we are teaching true principles and what God would have the class learn at that time.

In a more general sense of teaching (preaching, witnessing) I think the preceeding verses hold some clues.

12 And again, the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel.

13 And they shall observe the covenants and church articles to do them, and these shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit.

To me this means we need to learn the Doctrines from the scriptures then live according to them to be qualifed to teach "by the Spirit".

[Damien the Leper]

The answer to your question is given in these verses:

D&C 50:

17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.

19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

20 If it be some other way it is not of God.

21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?

22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

23 And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.

D&C 52:

14 And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

15 Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.

16 He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.

17 And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you.

18 And again, he that is overcome and bringeth not forth fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me.

19 Wherefore, by this pattern ye shall know the spirits in all cases under the whole heavens.

Thanks for the response and awesome citations. I look forward to reading later this evening in both of these sections in light of Section 42.

[Damien the Leper]

I like this topic...

I have taught secularly and in church. My experience with being prepared is two fold.

Temporally we need to have our curricula (information, lesson plans, activities) in order to minimize distraction in the classroom and keep participants engaged.

Spiritually we need to be attuned to the Holy Spirit so that we are teaching true principles and what God would have the class learn at that time.

In a more general sense of teaching (preaching, witnessing) I think the preceeding verses hold some clues.

12 And again, the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel.

13 And they shall observe the covenants and church articles to do them, and these shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit.

To me this means we need to learn the Doctrines from the scriptures then live according to them to be qualifed to teach "by the Spirit".

I also felt that 42: 12-13 were good preludes to v. 14. I think the hardest thing for many is how to magnify our ability to do this. I find that in separate situations I can be good at teaching spiritually and temporally but in a situation inwhich both are necessary...I find myself lacking a great deal because I have not yet found a way to get them to compliment each other. With that said...my teaching ability becomes limited.