The Spirit of the Holy Ghost is the teacher in the temple. He

Hear the sacred utterance of L. Lionel Kendrick: “The Spirit of the Holy Ghost is the teacher in the temple. He teaches principles of eternal significance. It is during these instructions that we see the relationship between the earthly and the eternal. We must remember that the Spirit teaches only those who are teachable.” These words are not merely counsel; they are a summons to humility, reverence, and the pursuit of truth that transcends the dust of this world.

The heart of this saying is that the Holy Ghost, unseen yet powerful, is the true teacher of divine mysteries. Mortal lips may speak and mortal minds may reason, but it is the Spirit who unfolds the eternal, who binds heaven and earth together, who whispers to the soul truths that no book can contain. Within the temple—a place of consecration and quiet—the Spirit becomes the voice that bridges time with eternity, teaching us to see beyond the fleeting shadows of life into the endless light of divine reality.

To say that He teaches “principles of eternal significance” is to remind us that not all lessons are equal. Earthly wisdom may instruct us in trade, in art, in the affairs of nations, but the Spirit’s lessons concern the soul: faith, charity, sacrifice, obedience, and the everlasting covenant between God and His children. Such lessons endure beyond death itself. They are not confined to the clay of the body or the limits of history, but shine like stars across the expanse of eternity.

Yet Kendrick warns us: the Spirit teaches only the teachable. Just as water cannot fill a vessel already full, nor sunlight pierce a heart closed by pride, so the Spirit cannot force truth upon the stubborn. The soul must be humble, open, and willing to learn. Consider the story of Saul of Tarsus. In his arrogance he persecuted the followers of Christ, but on the road to Damascus he was struck down, made blind, and in that humility became Paul the Apostle, filled with the Spirit, a teacher of nations. His transformation proves the truth: the Spirit enters only when the heart is ready to receive.

So too, in the lives of the humble and forgotten, we see this principle. A poor widow, kneeling in prayer, may be taught eternal truths denied to kings. A child, listening in innocence, may grasp the ways of heaven better than the scholar. For the Spirit does not honor worldly status, but only the openness of the heart. Thus, Kendrick’s words ring like a warning and a promise: knowledge of eternity is not withheld, but it is not imposed; it is gifted only to those who bow their pride and open their souls to learning.

The lesson for us is clear: if we would learn of the eternal, we must cultivate humility. We must enter the temple—whether of stone or of the heart—not as masters, but as disciples. We must pray, ponder, and listen with a quiet mind, ready to be instructed. The Spirit’s voice is gentle, like a breeze; it will not thunder over the clamor of arrogance. Only when we silence our pride will we hear the whisper that reveals the bond between the earthly and the eternal.

Practical steps follow: seek sacred spaces of stillness, where the voice of the Spirit may be heard; read the words of scripture not as one who critiques, but as one who yearns to learn; practice humility in daily life, softening anger, letting go of pride, being patient in trial. For in these acts we become teachable, and in becoming teachable, we open ourselves to lessons that endure beyond time itself.

Remember always: the true teacher is not flesh and blood, but the Holy Ghost. He teaches not the fleeting, but the eternal. He speaks not to the proud, but to the humble. And in His voice is the power to lift the soul from the earthly into the eternal. Let us, therefore, live as students of the Spirit, always ready to be taught, that we may walk not only in the ways of men, but in the ways of God.