Our greatest responsibility as members if the priesthood is to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of the kingdom. If we fail in that, we have failed in the most important thing all of us should be doing.
Underlying this responsibility are the admonitions from our Heavenly Father given in Section 20 of the doctrine and Covenants.
God gave Joseph Smith,
8 ...power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon; 9 Which contains a record of a fallen people, and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also; 10 Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels, and is declared unto the world by them— 11 Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old; 12 Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. 13 Therefore, having so great witnesses, by them shall the world be judged, even as many as shall hereafter come to a knowledge of this work. 14 And those who receive it in faith, and work righteousness, shall receive a crown of eternal life; 15 But those who harden their hearts in unbelief, and reject it, it shall turn to their own condemnation— 16 For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear witness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 17 By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; 18 And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them; 19 And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship. 20 But by the transgression of these holy laws man became sensual and devilish, and became fallen man. 21 Wherefore, the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him. 22 He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them. 23 He was crucified, died, and rose again the third day; 24 And ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the Father, to reign with almighty power according to the will of the Father; 25 That as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and endure in faith to the end, should be saved— 26 Not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life, (D&C 20:8-26)
I do not know a more powerful scripture to tell us the importance of using the scriptures in all our teachings.
To illustrate the lessons we can gain from reading the scriptures, let me tell a personal experience. While organizing a new stake presidency in Australia and instructing them in their duties, I was asked, “But Brother Lee, where are we going to get the ability and the power to do what you have said is our responsibility?" In answer to this question, I turned to the Book of Mormon.
In the seventeenth chapter of Alma, we read how Alma, the renegade son of the prophet, and the sons of King Mosiah decided that they were going to destroy the work of their fathers. The Lord sent an angel to strike the unruly Alma down, and for three days and nights he lay as though he were dead. He became converted. The sons of Mosiah, watching, wondered when the lightning was going to strike them. They too became converted; they had learned their lesson. Then they went out as great preachers of the gospel.
1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla. 2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. 3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God. (Alma 17:1-3)
That is how we get the influence necessary to make our words understood by those whom we would teach.
As he closed his last recorded writing, Nephi said,
1 ...neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men. (2 Nephi 33:1)
We must learn to teach by the power of the Holy Ghost. We must seek that same power to be effective teachers.
All that we teach in this church ought to be couched in the scriptures. It ought to be found in the scriptures. We ought to choose our texts from the scriptures. If we want to measure truth, we should measure it by the four standard works, regardless of who writes it. If it is not in the standard works, we may well assume that it is speculation, man's own personal opinion; and if it contradicts what is in the scriptures, it is not true. This is the standard by which we measure all truth.
Remember what the Prophet Joseph Smith said about the Book of Mormon:
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 194)
Should we say any more than that? There is nothing better than we can do to prepare ourselves spiritually than to read the Book of Mormon. Many doctrines of the Bible that are only partially covered there are beautifully expalined in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
We need to study those scriptures which pertain to priesthood, to be fully advised in the priesthood of the spiritual phases of our calling. Every priesthood holder should study thoroughly sections 20, 42, 68, 84, 107, 111, 121, and 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. He should also study and understand Paul's message to the Hebrews, especially the fifth and seventh chapters. If any man will study these teachings and put them into practice in his life, he is going to be a better officer in his professional life as well as in the Church.
George Romney, governer of Michigan and former president of the Detroit Stake, once said in a stake conference:
Boys, I want to tell you something. I have never had a degree in business administration from any business school. What success I have had in the business world I owe to the training I received in this Church. I was a deacons quorum president, and I was taught by advisors and by a counselor in the bishopric how to be a good one; I was a president of the teachers quorum; I have been a branch president; I have been a district president; I am now a stake president. And in all that I have been taught, I have tried to master how each of these duties is to be performed, and I have been applying these lessons in my business administration.
W. Aird Macdonald, former president of the Oakland Stake and a law officer by profession, was once honored for having the outstanding law enforcement organization in the state of California. When I congratulated him on this honor, he smiled and said,
Do not congratulate me. I do not know anything about organization except what I have learned in the Church, and I have organized my law enforcement agency as I did Oakland Stake. I have counselors; I have a high counsel; I have bishoprics dotted all over. I do not call them by those names, but they act just as did our officers in the Oakland Stake, and that is all I know about organization.
We are in the service of the Lord. We have the right to spiritual direction, if we live worthily. God grant that we may so live and study the scriptures, and let this be a reading habit that we indulge in daily, that we not fail of the high appointments for which we have been called in our Father's kingdom.
