Lesson 94: Doctrine and Covenants 84

Doctrine and Covenants 84:1–32

“The Power of Godliness”

Upon returning home from their missions, a group of elders met with the Prophet Joseph Smith. While praying together, the Prophet received a revelation that offered insights about the “power of godliness” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20) available to women and men through priesthood ordinances. This lesson can help students feel the importance of receiving the power of godliness that Jesus Christ offers through His priesthood ordinances.

Possible Learning Activities

Priesthood ordinances

Consider displaying the following statement by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Invite students to share how they feel about his questions and how they might answer them.

In my travels as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I meet youth all over the world. Many of them struggle with real concerns: “Will God help me? Will He guide my life? How can I receive the help, direction, and peace I need?” (Neil L. Andersen, “The Power of Godliness through Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings,” For the Strength of Youth, Aug. 2021, 10)

Ask questions that invite introspection: The following question is an example of a question that invites introspection. For more practice with this, see the training titled, “Create settings and opportunities for learners to be taught by the Holy Ghost” found in the Teacher Development Skills. Consider practicing the skill, “Create student self-evaluations about a doctrine, truth, or principle.”

• Think back to times in your life when you needed help, direction, and peace. What did you do or could you have done to seek God’s help and guidance?

Read the rest of Elder Neil L. Andersen’s statement, looking for one thing God has given to help us.

My dear young friends, God will help you, and He stands ready to bless you. As our loving Father, He has given us ordinances that help us feel His power in our lives—the power of godliness. (Neil L. Andersen, “The Power of Godliness through Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings,” For the Strength of Youth, Aug. 2021, 10)

Students may not have considered how ordinances can help them in their lives. You might invite students to reflect on their thoughts and feelings about ordinances. You could display the following self-assessment to do this:

Using a scale of 1–5 (1 = low; 5 = high), how would you assess your confidence in the following statements:

• I know what priesthood ordinances are.

• I recognize how God has already blessed my life through priesthood ordinances.

• I am consciously preparing to receive the next ordinance in my life.

Invite students to be receptive to impressions from the Holy Ghost as they study section 84 and learn more about God’s power that can come into their lives through priesthood ordinances.

The temple and priesthood

Consider how you might share the following information with students:

In September 1832, missionaries returned to Kirtland, Ohio, after preaching the gospel in the eastern United States. During their reunion, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 84. In this revelation, the Lord expanded the Saints’ understanding of the priesthood. Read Doctrine and Covenants 84:1–5, looking for what the Lord instructed the Saints to prioritize as they built the city of New Jerusalem.

• Why do you think it is significant that the Lord would begin a revelation on the priesthood by teaching about the importance of temples?

If students do not mention it, you might point out that in the temple, priesthood ordinances are performed that are necessary for our salvation and exaltation.

You may want to share with students that in verses 6–18, the Lord declared that His priesthood was conferred upon Adam and continued to the time of Moses. Jesus Christ also conferred priesthood upon Aaron and his descendants. You may want to point out that His priesthood continues in the restored Church of Jesus Christ today. All priesthood authority, including that required to perform temple ordinances, comes from Jesus Christ.

The power of godliness is manifest through ordinances

This may be a good time to ask your students what an ordinance is. If they struggle to explain it, you could invite them to use scripture study helps to find out. Help them understand that an ordinance is a sacred, formal act or ceremony performed by the authority of the priesthood. Some ordinances are essential to our exaltation.

You may want to list priesthood ordinances on the board, such as baptism, sacrament, blessing of comfort and counsel, patriarchal blessing, confirmation and gift of the Holy Ghost, temple endowment, and temple sealing.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–22, looking for what the Lord teaches about ordinances.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:20–22 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.

• What did you learn about priesthood ordinances?

• What questions do you have about what you read?

  Depending on students’ understanding and the questions they ask, you may want to share some or all of the following:

• “The greater priesthood administereth the gospel” refers to the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood to administer the ordinances necessary for our salvation and exaltation.

• “Mysteries” are “spiritual truths known only by revelation” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Mysteries of God,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

• “Power of godliness” refers to the power that comes from God to help us in this life and prepare us for eternal life.

Help students identify that through the ordinances of the priesthood, we can receive the power of godliness in our lives.

To help students deepen their understanding of this truth, invite them to pick one of the ordinances listed on the board that they would like to learn more about. Give them time to write down two to three questions they have about that ordinance. Or you could display the three questions listed below for them to consider.

• How could someone prepare to receive this ordinance?

• How do you think this priesthood ordinance helps us receive the power of godliness to help us in this life?

• How can receiving this ordinance help us become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Invite students to search divinely appointed sources to learn more about the ordinance they picked and for answers to their questions. They could do this on their own or with others who selected the same ordinance. The General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, found at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, provides helpful information for those who choose to study the temple endowment (27.2) and sealing (27.3). They could also ponder personal experiences when ordinances they have experienced have helped them to feel the power of godliness in their lives.

After sufficient time, invite individuals or groups to share what they learned with the class.

The importance of ordinances

To help students reflect on what they have learned about the importance of priesthood ordinances, you could have students respond to some or all of the following questions. Students could pick a question and share their answers with a classmate.

• What have you learned about the power of godliness and priesthood ordinances?

• How can working toward and receiving these ordinances help you come closer to Jesus Christ?

• When have you felt God’s power through the priesthood ordinances you have received?

Consider sharing your thoughts and feelings about the power of God you have received in your life through priesthood ordinances.

Memorize

You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase is “In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Additional Resources

Doctrine and Covenants 84:20–21. What is the connection between saving ordinances and the power of godliness?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:

Priesthood ordinances are the pathway to the power of godliness. … Priesthood ordinances are essential to fully “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (see Moroni 10:30–33). Without the ordinances, an individual cannot receive all of the blessings made possible through the Lord’s infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice (see Alma 34:10–14)—even the power of godliness. (David A. Bednar, “Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work,” Ensign or Liahona, Oct. 2014, 16)

Doctrine and Covenants 84:22. What does it mean that “without this no man can see the face of God … and live”?

The Lord taught Adam that “no unclean thing can dwell … in his presence” (Moses 6:57). Only by receiving the ordinances through the power of the priesthood and keeping the associated covenants can we be cleansed from sin and become holy and pure like God. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 72).

Who has access to priesthood power?

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, taught:

Women, men and children access and draw upon priesthood power, the Savior’s power, to help the people they love (see Dallin H. Oaks, “The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 69–72). The blessings of priesthood power available to all Church members who keep their covenants—women, men and children—include:

• Guidance for their lives.

• Inspiration to know how to serve family members and others.

• Strength to endure and overcome challenges.

• Gifts of the Spirit to magnify their abilities.

• Revelation to know how to fulfill the work they are ordained, set apart or assigned to do.

• Help and strength to become more like Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father (General Handbook, 3.5).

The Savior is the source of all these blessings. Guidance, inspiration, gifts of the Spirit and revelation all come through the Holy Ghost, sent by the Father in the name of the Savior. …

In my experience, priesthood power, particularly that with which I have been endowed in the house of the Lord, amplifies the companionship of the Holy Ghost and my understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. (Camille N. Johnson, “President Camille N. Johnson: What Must Women and Men Do to Have Access to Priesthood Power?,” Church News, Oct. 30, 2022, thechurchnews.com)

How can the temple help me access God’s power?

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power [see Doctrine and Covenants 109:15, 22]. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead. (Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 93–94)

Supplemental Learning Activities

The sacrament

If you want to spend additional time helping students understand the importance of the sacrament, you could share the following statement:

[T]he sacrament is an ordinance in which Church members partake of bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice. This ordinance is an essential part of worship and spiritual development. Through this ordinance, Church members renew the covenants they made with God when they were baptized. (Topics and Questions, “Sacrament,” topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

Consider discussing the importance of the ordinance of the sacrament with students. Help them to understand that it is an essential part of their worship and spiritual development. They could set a goal on something they could do during the sacrament that will help them increase their worship and spiritual development.

Line of authority

Read Doctrine and Covenants 84:6–16. Invite students to identify what is contained in these verses and what the passages can teach us about the priesthood. If possible, bring a copy of someone’s priesthood line of authority to class. You may want to copy the line of authority on the board. Help students understand that a priesthood line of authority shows how priesthood authority has been conferred from one priesthood holder to another, from Jesus Christ to a priesthood holder today. You could also demonstrate how to request a line of authority.

Explain the importance of ordinances

You could write the following on the board: “Why are priesthood ordinances important in my life?” Give students a few minutes to consider how they would respond to this question. You could have students do this at the beginning of the lesson to gauge their understanding of ordinances or at the end so they can demonstrate what they have learned. After they have pondered how they would answer this question, invite a few students to share how they would respond.