lesson 18: "establish...a house of god"

7/28/2019 Lesson 18: "Establish...a House of God"

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#1 Heber C. Kimball: “The churchwas in a state of poverty and dis-

tress in consequence of which itappeared almost impossible that

the commandment (to build the Kirtlandtemple) could be fulfilled, at the same timeour enemies were raging and threateningdestruction upon us, and we had to guardourselves night after night, and for weekswere not permitted to take off our clothes,and were obliged to lay with our fire locks in

our arms to preserve brother Joseph’s life.(Journal, bk. 94B, p. 19, 2nd numbering, Church HistoricalArchives)

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#2 Orson Pratt: "By and by we willhave Temples, with a great manythings contained in them which wenow have not; for with them, aswith all other things, the Lord be-

gins little by little; he does not reveal every-

thing all at once. He gave the pattern of these things in Kirtland, Ohio, as the begin-ning; but there were not rooms for thewashings, no rooms such as we have now,and such as were prepared in the NauvooTemple; and in other respects, there wassomething added to the Nauvoo Temple.Why; Because we had greater experience,and were prepared for greater things. There

was no font in the basement story of theKirtland Temple, for baptismal purposes inbehalf of the dead? Why not! Because thatprinciple was not revealed. But in the Nau-voo Temple this font was prepared, whichwas something in advance of the KirtlandTemple. We have, of late, constructed aTemple at St. George. Blessings have beenadministered in that Temple, that were to-

tally unknown in the two former Temples,namely, endowments for the dead. Again,

and by, we build a Temple in JacksonCounty, Missouri. Will it be built according tthe pattern of our present Temples? No.There will be, according to the progress of this people, and the knowledge they receivand the greatness of the work that is beforthem, many things, pertaining to the pat-tern, that will then be given, which will diffmaterially, or will be, at least, in addition to

that which is in these Temples now built. Ithink if you will go and search in the ChurcHistorian's office, you will find a plan of aTemple, that is to be built in Jackson Countwhich will be very different from the littleTemples we now build" (Journal of Discourses , 19:19

#3 Frederick G. Williams: “We weupon our knees, called on the Lord

and the Building appeared withinviewing distance: I being the first discover it. Then all of us viewed it

together. After we had taken a good look athe exterior, the building seemed to comeright over us, and the Makeup of this Hallseems to coincide with what I there saw tominutia” (quoted in Truman O. Angell, Journal, MS, Spe

Collections, Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 4).

#4 Lucy Mack Smith: “In this coucil, Joseph requested that each ofthe brethren should give his viewswith regard to the house; and

when they had all got through, he would

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give his opinion concerning the matter...Some were in favor of building a framehouse, but the majority were of a mind toput up another log house. Joseph remindedthem that they were not building a house fora man, but for God; ‘and shall we, brethren,’

said he, ‘build a house for our God, of logs?No, I have a better plan than that. I have aplan of the house of the Lord, given by Him-self; and you will soon see by this, the dif-ference between our calculations and Hisidea of things.’ He then gave them a full pat-tern of the house of the Lord at Kirtland,with which the brethren were highly de-lighted, particularly Hyrum, who was much

more animated than if it were designed forhimself.” (History of Joseph Smith , 217)

#5 Eliza R. Snow: “The Saintswere few in number, and most of them very poor; And, had it notbeen for the assurance that Godhath not only revealed the form,

but also designated the dimensions, an at-

tempt towards building that Temple, underthe then existing circumstances, would havebeen, by all concerned, pronounced prepos-terous” ( An Immortal: Selected Writings of Eliza R. Snow,

1957, p. 54)

#6 Brigham Young: The Churchwas “too few in numbers, tooweak in faith, and too poor inpurse, to attempt such a mighty

enterprise. But by means of allthese stimulants, a mere handful of men liv-ing on air, and a little hominy and milk andoften salt or no salt when milk could not behad; the great Prophet Joseph, in the stonequarry, quarrying rock with his own hands;and the few then in the Church, following hisexample of obedience and diligence wher-

ever most needed; with laborers on thewalls, holding the sword in one hand to protect them selves from the mob, while theyplaced the stone and moved the trowel witthe other” (JD 2:31).

#7 Jared Carter: “Found while we were hethe Lord had mercy upon a lame man…who… had been lame for months but wefound he was a believer in the Book of Mormon… I then took him by the hand andcommanded him in the name of Christ towalk.” He rose to his feet, threw down hiscrutches, and walked 3/4 of a mile to a lakwhere he was baptized by Simeon Carter, J

red’s mission companion and brother.(http

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#8 In December 1834 John Tanner “received an impression by dream… that hwas needed and must go immediately to thChurch in the West.” ...When he reachedKirtland, about a month later, “he learnedthat at the time he received the impressionthe Prophet Joseph Smith and some of the

other brethren met in prayer meeting andasked the Lord to send them a brother…with means to assist them in lifting themortgage on the farm upon which the temple was then building. On the second day ohis arrival in Kirtland, ...he was informedthat the mortgage on the temple block wasabout to be foreclosed… He loaned theProphet $2,000, and took the Prophet’s no

at interest. With this amount, the block orfarm was redeemed.” He loaned the templecommittee $13,000 dollars, signed a note f$30,000 dollars with the Prophet and otherfor goods purchased in New York, and mad “liberal donations” toward the building of ttemple. There is no evidence that any of these loans were repaid.

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“By 1838 he had sold, loaned, lost, orgiven to others nearly all of his money andproperty… At the time of the exodus he wasso poor that he had to borrow some of thenecessities for the journey.

“In 1844, John Tanner was called to take

a mission… Before starting he went to Nau-voo to see the Prophet, Joseph Smith, whomhe met in the street. He held the Prophet’snote for $2,000 loaned in 1835, to redeemthe Kirtland Temple farm… The Prophet …asked what he would have him do with itand [he] replied: ‘Brother Joseph you arewelcome to it.’ The Prophet then laid hisright hand heavily upon [his] shoulder and

said, ’God bless you, ...your children shallnever beg for bread.’” (Milton V. Backman, The Heav-

ens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830- 1838, 351)

#9 Elder Cree L. Kofford: “ At thetime of the commencement of work on the Kirtland Temple mygreat-great-grandfather, ArtemusMillet, was a wealthy construction

contractor living in the area of Toronto, Can-ada. He was also a non-member of theChurch. It has been said that he was sur-prised to find Brigham Young at his doorsaying that he had been sent by JosephSmith to convert him to the Church and thathe was to leave his business and come toKirtland to assist in the construction of thetemple. Brigham also said that Joseph

wanted him to bring $1000 so they couldbuy supplies. Artemus was baptized, left hisbusiness in the hands of employees, andwent to Kirtland where he worked tirelesslyon the temple. Accidents and fatigue weak-ened him physically; he gave liberally of hisfunds and in the end had little of economicworth left. His wife died leaving him with

four children. In short he, along with numeous others, gave everything he had to thebuilding of the temple.” (“Learning to Love the Te

ple ... Even More,” BYU Idaho Devotional, Mar. 17, 2009 )

#10 President Lorenzo Snow: “There we had the gift of prophecy —the gift of tongues —the interpretation of tongues —visions

and marvelous dreams were related —thsinging of heavenly choirs was heard, awonderful manifestations of the healingpower, through the administrations of thElders, were witnessed. The sick werehealed —the deaf made to hear —the blin

to see and the lame to walk, in verymany instances. It was plainly manifestthat a sacred and divine influence —aspiritual atmosphere pervaded that holyedifice.” (Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record o

Lorenzo Snow (1884), 11.)

#11 President Brigham Young: “We… areenjoying a privilege that we have no know

edge of any other people enjoying since thdays of Adam, that is, to have a templecompleted, wherein all the ordinances of thhouse of God can be bestowed upon hispeople. Brethren and Sisters, do you understand this?” (JD 18:314)



#12 William Wolf: “At the time of my fa-ther’s death iin 1979, I was not very activein church work and left the task of havinghis [temple] work done to my daughter.However, by July 1986 I had come to mysenses and performed the temple ordinances

for my grandfather… and sealed my father…to him. As I came through the veil and en-tered the celestial room, the thought came

to my head, as clear as if my father hadbeen at my side and talking to me, “IT’S ABOUT TME, YOU ORNERY PECKER WOOD”— a phrase that I had not heard nothought of for years. This is what my fathewould call one of us kids when we went

astray. There will never be any doubt thatmy father was talking to me that day.” (Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen, and Karl R. Anderson, Teacings and Commentaries on the Doctrine and Covenants, 232

The Temple and the Atonement Truman G. Madsen

Abridged from a lecture delivered in Saratoga, California, October 16, 1994.

We have been in Israel on and off, for nearly six-and-a-half years. It was evocative in ways I cannot put in wordsWe came daily, my wife and I, for two years to that magnificent building on Mount Scopus, the Jerusalem Center, yocenter. We walked into an office which is all glass on the west side and looked out early in the morning upon descendng gold, because as the sun rises it strikes the taller buildings first and then moves down. Golden Jerusalem, the placof the most ancient temple and the place of the great future temple.

Having been associated with BYU for three decades, I have had the privilege of knowing and for a period even benext door in an office building to a young man named Hugh Nibley. You may have heard that name. As you look at thmaterials in the foyer, you will see his name prominently. Part of the great mission of FARMS is to see that all this mahas written is pulled together in collected works —fifteen volumes so far.

If there is a major preoccupation in his life, certainly over the last twenty to twenty-five years, it has been the temple. His task has been to study world ritual, to look at ceremony as it relates to temples all over the world, going as faback as possible in antiquity.

Experience has taught me that this man loves what he is writing about. We occasionally have the opportunity to gto the temple with him and even to have a word or two with him afterward over a meal or sometimes within the temtself. He is always focused and full of concentration during that experience. Someone said to me, "It's probably writtn memory, so he could practically go to sleep and still get through it." He doesn't do that. He listens and he comes oas ebullient, joyous, and radiant as a child would be after the morning of Christmas. He is proof that there are depthsbeyond depths, insights beyond insights, glories beyond glories in the temple, which many of us have not yet plumbe

Now go with me to a place called Kirtland, Ohio, and recall that on one occasion when the people are asking "WhO why when we hardly have enough for hominy and milk do we have to build a temple? What is a temple? And why



such great cost?" At one point the prophet replied, "The Angel Gabriel couldn't explain it to you now. But have faith acontinue and the Lord will make it plain."1 Well, according to the late Elder John A. Widtsoe, the cost of that building,using the measuring rod of the widow's mite —what they had proportional to what they gave —the Kirtland Temple comore per capita than any building in American religious history. An unprecedented sacrifice! That sacrifice was met, ayou all know, with an unprecedented outpouring of the Lord's Spirit.

They actually met in the temple, and as they put it, "waited on the Lord" at candlelight all night. I have found norecord of anyone falling asleep. There was such a jubilee of feeling close to the Lord and being filled with joy that thepeople went from house to house to visit each other. They would share their experiences. Then they would give bless

ngs to each other. One of them wrote in his journal that he thought the Millennium had come. He thought all temptation and all trial was past, even the desire for sin.2 The prophet had to stand up on one occasion and say, in effect,"Brothers and sisters, this is all of God, but the opposite will come. There will be new onslaughts of trial." To the twelhe said specifically, "God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and, if ycannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God."3

That was all too prophetic. You know the sequel. Within months there were new seeds of apostasy and bitternessthe failure of the Kirtland bank and the assigning of blame. One-half of those who were at the time faithful fell away.One-half of the Council of the Twelve —six men —apostatized. Of the remaining six, four had times of trouble and disafection. The wrench came. After great tribulations, our scriptures tell us, come the blessings. On the other side of thaafter great blessings come further trials. That's the nature of life. You can all testify from your own experience.

So after that sacrifice they were driven out. They tried three different times in Missouri to dedicate places for temples, but they were never able to get a shovel into the ground to start building. The prophet Joseph made a special t

to the very center, Independence, and dedicated land there. They dedicated Adam-ondi-Ahman for a temple. They decated a site in Far West. Not until Nauvoo, after having been through the crucible again, were they able to undertakethe actual construction of the temple. That one took all the people's time and energies for nearly three years. How lowas it actually used? Less than six weeks after its formal dedication. And it cost about a million dollars. Genuine sacrifice!

How could the Prophet have led them to make this tremendous sacrifice for just six weeks? That temple was rippas it were from its roots, destroyed by fire and then a cyclone. When they came across the plains to the alkali soil of West (you know the story), Brigham with his cane said, "Here we will build a temple of our God." Yes, it's there. It toforty years of building. Three other temples were finished before it was.

Why all this?Some glimpses: Do you realize that the Prophet in one temple sermon in Nauvoo was addressing a woman, a

mother, who had been bereft of her son through death? He said to her, "You shall have glad tidings today." This siste

believed the scripture that talks about rebirth, that there is no access to the kingdom of God except through baptism.Her child had not been baptized. And the Prophet introduced the principle of baptism for the (we always say) dead. Bthere are no dead. Those who are in the spirit world are very much alive, in fact perhaps more alive than we are. "Ths your privilege: You can go into the waters of baptism for your loved ones." He added another phrase, "and for thoswhom we have much friendship for."4

The instant reaction to that sermon was that people rushed down to the Mississippi (the temple wasn't finished, athe font wasn't finished), and began baptisms for about a hundred people. No witnesses, no records, women were batized for men, men for women, and the Prophet literally had to run down to the river and say, "Wait, wait, we have todo this in order."5

It is the desire I want to describe. Do you care about those you truly love? Do you want to bring to them the samblessings you have received? Of course.

There is much more. The prophet taught in a sermon in Nauvoo that "we need the temple more than we need an

thing else."6 Why?The following verses in section 84 of our Doctrine and Covenants help provide the answer. They tell of Moses and

about how he tried and tried in vain for forty years to prepare the children of Israel to go with him up onto the mountain, so to speak, and to have face-to-face communion with God. He failed. Tradition says Moses became unworthy othe Jewish people, the Israelites. Our scriptures say just the opposite. They became unworthy of him. The Lord sworehis wrath, so it says, that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness. Entering into his rest doesn't mecessation of all activities. It means the rest that comes to your soul when you get out of the spiritual wilderness and aable to know and commune with the living God. Moses was taken out of their midst, says the passage, and the holypriesthood also.

Verses 20 —21 say, "In [that higher priesthood and in] the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest[unto man (including women) in the flesh]. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood,

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power of godliness is not manifest unto man in the flesh." A categorical statement.Whatever the powers of godliness are, they come to us in the flesh through ordinances and in no other way. The

highest ordinances are the ordinances of the house of God. All else is preparatory to them. So, the Prophet taught, itwas not Moses with the higher priesthood, but Joshua with the lesser priesthood who crossed the Jordan and went inthe promised land. Moses remained on Mount Nebo.

History repeats itself. The prophet Joseph Smith yearned with his whole soul to be the modern Joshua and lead aeast the first company of Saints to sanctuary, to "the mountain of the Lord's house" which he had prophesied wouldone day be. He was denied that privilege in part because his own people could not believe he was a prophet when he

said "all they want is me and my brother Hyrum, they won't touch you, they won't a hair of your heads." They were nfully worthy of the Prophet, as the ancients were not. But the Prophet did live to confer upon the Twelve all of thesehigher ordinances in late March 1844. The temple wasn't finished, so it was done in the upper room of his store. 7 In meeting which was certainly the most important summary meeting of his life, he conferred everything —keys, authorities, powers —and then commissioned Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff to see that these truths were systematizeand eventually presented as they are in the temple. He then told those twelve men that upon them now rested thecharge to lead the Saints to what they needed the most and eventually to prepare the whole world for temples, theprivilege of communion with the living God, every man and every woman. Wilford Woodruff said fifty years later, "Thcharge is still ringing in my ears." They did it. You and I are the blessed recipients.

Aside from work for those we love and aside from our own privileges, brothers and sisters, the temple is a place oearning and the only place for some kinds of learning that go directly to our spirits, to our core, to our very depths. "house of learning" says section 88. One who has written brilliantly about this is the late Elder John A. Widtsoe. Born i

Norway in the last century (and born incidentally with his hand attached to his head, requiring a delicate surgical opetion), he was told in a patriarchal blessing as a mere boy, "Thou shalt have great faith in the ordinances of the Lord'shouse." He became the author of what was then the Temple Index Bureau, updated now with computers. He becameone of the leading directors of the Genealogical Society of Utah. He became a member of the Council of the Twelve. Ian article titled "Temple Worship," he says, "The endowment is so richly symbolic that only a fool would attempt to dscribe it; it is so packed full of revelations to those who exercise their strength to seek and see, that no human wordscan explain or make clear the possibilities. . . . the endowment which was given by revelation can best be understoodby revelation."8

Thus we may come to know the mysteries of godliness. Mystery is a word that we use negatively, usually for thinthat don't matter and are presently beyond our ken. Such mysteries we are counseled to avoid. In contrast, "the mysteries of godliness" are, we know from modern scholarship, the ordinances of godliness. "O, I beseech you," says Jo-seph Smith, "go forward and search deeper and deeper into the mysteries of godliness."9 It is a commandment. Whe

are we to search? In the house of God. Why there? Because the temple is dedicated to that purpose, because there wmake covenants to be true to what we understand, not just learning out of curiosity but absorbing into our souls whawe most need to understand. And there we covenant to keep these sacred things sacred.

Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail, "The things of God are of deep import and time and experience and carefuland ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind O man if thou wilt lead a soul into salvation msearch into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity, thou must commune with God."10 had time and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts in that jail, for he yearned for the same priege within the sanctuary. He was denied it. He did not live to see the Nauvoo Temple finished. "O Lord," he said in oof his prayers, "If I can only live to see the temple finished, then I will say, it is enough. "11But it didn't happen.

Parley P. Pratt dedicated a cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple. He talked about communion with those who arebeyond. "There are," he said, "peepings and mutterings and superstitions and Halloween kinds of activities in the woBut then there is authentic, intimate, revelatory experience with those who are tied to us by family ties and by the sa

fices they have made in their lives for us." Now, perhaps according to covenant, we are here to respond by doing in ttemple what we can do for them.

Asked about the spirit world, the prophet Joseph replied, "Enveloped in flaming fire [he's talking about disembodispirits], they are not far from us. They know our thoughts, motions, and feelings and are often painedtherewith."12 Elsewhere he says they are likewise often rejoiced therewith: "The heavens weep for joy."13 They are nodle spectators. Somehow there are laws that enable them to have some influence upon us and we upon them. In thetemple these laws are fulfilled. Parley P. Pratt taught that for the pure in heart, "soul meets soul, thought meetsthought, love meets love."14

We do not comprehend what a blessing to them these ordinances are. In the resurrection, Joseph taught HoraceCummings, they will fall at the feet of those who have done their work, kiss their feet, embrace their knees, and manfest the most exquisite gratitude.



























Wilford Woodruff who dedicated the Salt Lake Temple taught that "there will be few if any who will not receive thordinances of the temple when they are performed for them."15 Elder John W. Taylor, while attending the Manti Temdedication, concluded that only one in ten would refuse the ordinances. He added, "how many who are kept in prisonare not ready to come out?"16

What an assurance, when I go with my wife through a magnificent, two-hour experience in the temple, that we mhave brought two converts into the kingdom of God. In two hours!

With Wilford Woodruff I testify that this work can only be understood by the spirit of revelation. "There is nothingmade known," said Joseph Smith, speaking of the day he taught the Twelve the ordinances of the temple, "but will b

made known to all saints of the last days as soon as they are prepared to receive."

17

But, know this, he said, they areonly to be received by the spiritually-minded.The temple is also the most practical of places. Melvin J. Ballard taught that each one of us should be willing to ta

to the temple our worst problems, and he was talking about hard, down-to-earth, even physical problems. You pray,you fast. But if you don't get your answer, he said, I'll tell what to do: go to the house of the Lord, and in the silencethose precincts, as you are serving others, the Lord will bless you.18 Similarly, as a soil chemist, John A. Widtsoe repoa laborious struggle trying to draw a mountain of data together and make it applicable. It did not work. He finally callhis wife. "Let's go to the temple and forget the failure." In the temple it came. That resulted in two books and in a reution in agrarian practice. I know people who have had the most wrenching soul trials, like in my own life when mybrother went down in a plane crash. I know for myself and for them that the place of the most tangible comfort is thehouse of the Lord.

When Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were at the pulpit at the east end of the Kirtland Temple, they heard from

the Lord himself the words, "Behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest mysto my people in mercy in this house. . . . and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon theheads of my people" (D&C 110:7,10).

Notice "my name shall be here." Solomon plead for that when he dedicated the ancient temple. What does it meaThere are depths beyond depths. You are required as disciples of Christ to come once in seven days and covenant anto take upon you the name of Jesus Christ. In the house of the Lord you come to take upon you his name in the fullesense. Why all the emphasis on fullness? Well there is a promise that we will one day have a fullness of truth. That istemple-related. We are promised the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith prayed for that at the Kirtland Templededication. And we are promised within the temple the fullness of the priesthood.

Likewise, we are promised that in the temple the Lord's name will be put upon us. It means at root that we becomhis. The answer to "Who am I?" can never be complete unless it answers "Whose am I?" You are the son or daughtea king. The Father himself. Through the ordinances you are begotten spiritually through his Son. You become heir to

throne. That is a worldly way of saying it. But it is true. An old Jewish proverb says that the worst thing the evil inclintion can ever do to you is to make you forget that you are the son or daughter of a king. I don't know how you can foget that in the temple. You take his name.

To receive him fully is to receive the fullness of his atonement. Think about it —the at-one-ment that Jesus Christwrought by the shedding of his own blood. The atonement was, and is, to enable us to overcome through his grace ahealing power three things: Ignorance, sin, and death. Hence I often say the temple is a matter of life and death.

"A man cannot be saved in ignorance." This passage refers to a specific kind of ignorance. The preceding verse istalking about sealing, about coming to know by revelation through the power of the Holy Priesthood not only that Jess the Christ, but also that a relationship has been forged between you and Jesus Christ. It is a testimony that there isight at the end of the tunnel, that he is making you his. How do you come to know that? I can only tell you that thepromise does pertain to the temple. And we may come to a like testimony about temple sealings to our progenitors aour children.

The Savior said that he came that men might have life, and have it more abundantly. Life, abundant life, is pluralzed in the teachings of Joseph Smith as "eternal lives."

You are all alive in several ways and to certain degrees. You are alive intellectually; you think, you study, you teaThere is, no matter what else we do each day, the life of the mind. Then there is the life of the heart. The word in Hebrew is leb , "heart," the inmost throbbing center. A hard heart is different than a malleable, tender heart. Christ's heas tender. Those who come to him feeling mercy and gratitude for his mercy are tenderized in the very center of theirbeing.

We seek life in another way. It is the creative life. It is lodged in the cry of ancient Israelite fathers and mothers:"Give me children, or I die." This is the life of creation and procreation.

I testify that in the house of the Lord all three of these modes of life are enhanced and magnified and increased.Therein we are promised that whatever our age or the decline and disabilities that we experience here, we will one da















enter in at the gate to eternal lives. On that day of renewal, we will emerge into a celestial condition, into the "fulnesof the glory of the Father." There the glorious privilege of priesthood, parenthood, and godhood come together as onThere will be the reunion of the separated forever. As this is the crowning ordinance of the house of God, it is also thcrowning truth of the gospel.

Brother Brigham Young was once approached by two sisters, each of whom wanted a divorce. I paraphrase his response: "If you could only see your husband as he will be in the glorious resurrection, this very husband you now sayyou despise, your first impulse would be to kneel and worship him." He said the same thing to husbands who had"fallen out of love" with their wives. Those are mighty words.

That leads me to the main and final point. I haven't yet used the expression "fullness of love." Consider this passan section 88.For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue;

ight cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course andclaimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth athings.

Only the virtuous know true love.In religious tradition much is said and even canonized about how God is "absolutely other." Not one sentence you

can utter about human being applies in any way whatever to God; God must be absolutely different, say they, or wecould not love and worship him. Joseph Smith died to get back in the world the truth that we are in fact in the imageGod. In fact. That means that as a statue exactly resembles the person it represents, so man exactly resembles the nture of the Father and the Son. That's the great and glorious secret. Man and woman are theomorphic; they are in th

form of God. That is the foundation of divine-human love.In some patterns of worship, it is thought that the way to convey proper relationships to God is to cultivate dark-

ness, magnify distance, use only the kinds of music, or words, or ceremonial procedure which invoke awe and even irtional fear. The testimony of the restored temple is that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ yearn not to widen tgap, but to close it. In the house of the Lord we may come to him in light, in intimacy, and in holy embrace. And he wI quote again from the prophet, "manifest himself in mercy in his house." That is love.

I testify, speaking as one who had to be converted to this, the temple is many things: a house of faith, a house ostudy, a house of learning, a house of order, a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of glory. But surroundingof those, it is a house of love. None of us receives enough love in this world, none of us. We're all in a measure love-starved and love-anxious. The Father and the Son call us to come in the spirit of sacrifice and be surrounded by thatholy environment which embraces us in love.

Remember that Jesus looked out, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you, as a hen gathere

her chicks and ye would not." He repeated those words to the Nephites, using three tenses: I have gathered you,I would have gathered you (speaking of those who were wiped away in a terrible earthquake), and I will gather you.

I suggest to you that here is another symbolic allusion to the temple. The wings of a mother hen are intimate, anprotective, and warm. In 3 Nephi the Savior adds another phrase about the hen and her wandering chicks: "I wouldhave nourished you." The Jews speak of the temple as the navel, the emphallos , of the earth, the very place thatheaven brings nutriment to earth. Jesus wept because he had been unable to gather his people. Modern revelation teus he wanted to gather them in order to bring them into his sanctuary and reveal to them and pour out upon them thglories of his temple. But they would not. They hated their own blood. Our generation is slipping more and more intothe same mud.

I have stood on the Mount of Olives. There came down on me a prophetic and anticipatory sense. A day will comewhen he will descend in like manner as he once ascended from that very mount. Angels heralded his birth into theworld. So I speculate that a choir welcomed him home. We have been promised that some of us may be present to w

come him as he descends. We will sing a new song. He has already given us the words. Inspired knowledge and mayeven memory will enable us to sing to his glory on that occasion The very touch of his foot, his glorified and celestialfoot, will change the world and eventually the whole human family. A temple will be in place by then, perhaps morethan one. There and elsewhere, worthy people will recognize him and glory in his presence. This time there will be notears except tears of joy.

I testify that this is true. I testify that temples have been built by the sacrifice of our friends and loved ones to enable us to reach them as well as the deepest part of ourselves. Beyond that I testify that in the house of the Lord, hethe Lord himself will manifest himself in mercy and in love and give us the fullness of those blessings we all earnestlyyearn for. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.



D&C LESSON 18 OUTLINE

There has always been a lot asked of the Latter-day Saints. I was going to begin thesson by brainstorming with you all the things we are asked to do, from eagle pro-jects to genealogy, but the more I thought about it, the more my spirits sank at myown inadequacies, and that’s not my purpose here. So instead, let me just mention

few things that were going on at the time the Saints were commanded to build theKirtland temple.

-The date was Dec. 28th, 1832 (see section 88)-In Feb. 1833, Joseph received the Word of Wisdom.-In March he was instructed to organize the First Presidency.-In May he was told to “hasten to translate my scriptures” (D&C 93:53) -In May he also was commanded to build what we might call a church head

quarters and a house for printing, as well as a schoolhouse, and form a

committee to raise funds.-Church leaders were also busily engaged in establishing the United Order by

purchasing properties —a tannery, an Inn, and a farm.-Meanwhile in Missouri, large mobs were beginning to form against those Sain

There really was a lot going on in addition to the chores of every day life. So to met’s understandable that in the five months following the command to build the tempnothing was done except to purchase the land.

~Was it acceptable to the Lord?~Knowing what we know about our Father in Heaven...why was He so anxious

for them to get going on that temple? (they needed the blessings)~How many Saints do you think were living in Kirtland at this time? (100)~Were they people of means?

Benjamin F. Johnson wrote: “there was not a scraper and hardly a plow that could bobtained among the Saints” to prepare the ground for the foundation of the temple.(My Life’s Review, 1947, p. 16)

And we haven’t even touched on what the enemies of the church in Kirtland were dng:

Quotation #1Even so, let’s read the Lord’s response to their procrastination: D&C 95: 1-4, 8 (with interruptions)

V. 1: ~Why does Heavenly Father chastise them? What does He want to do for them(deliver them)

V. 4: ~What is He talking about here? What will completing the temple do? (enablemissionary work to begin in earnest)

V. 8: ~Is He talking about the endowment as we know it in our temples today?



~Was the Kirtland temple used for higher priesthood ordinances? (no, thoseweren’t revealed until Nauvoo in 1842. Priesthood members in Kirtland dparticipate in a partial endowment, though, which included washings andanointing, and the washing of feet. The Lord also poured out his spirit asin the day of Pentecost)

~So why was the Kirtland temple built? (So that the keys for the three-fold mi

sion of the church could be restored.)~What is that mission, and who restored the keys?

-proclaim the gospel (Moses: keys of gathering)-perfect the Saints (Elias, blessings of Abraham, or the keys of eternal in

crease)-redeem the dead (Elijah: keys of the sealing power)

Quotation #2D&C 95:11

~What is Heavenly Father saying here? Had their circumstances changed? (nothey were still poor as church mice and severely persecuted)

~Did they have any idea where to begin? (no, it would be akin to our ward attempting to build a temple)

~But if Heavenly Father commanded us, could we do it? (yes!)~Does He require us to know HOW to accomplish His will before we obey? Wh

exactly does He ask of us? (think of Nephi and getting the plates from Laban. He requires a mindset, an attitude, a decision to simply obey in faithbelieving He will open the was for us to accomplish His will)

D&C 95:14~Who were the three? (Joseph and his counselors, Sidney Rigdon and Frederic

G. Williams)Frederick G. Williams described their experience:

Quotation #3Joseph then called a meeting to discuss constructing the temple. Lucy Mack Smithdescribed the meeting:

Quotation #4

Lucy went on to say that Hyrum “declared that he would strike the first blow towardbuilding it… Hyrum ran to the house and caught the scythe and was about returningto the place without giving any explanation, but I stopped him and asked his wherehe was going with the scythe. He said, ‘We are preparing to build a house for theLord, and I am determined to be the first a work? In a few minutes the fence was removed, the young wheat cut and the ground in order for the foundation of the wall,and Hyrum commenced digging away the Earth where the stone were to beaid” (History of Joseph Smith, 321).



So the vision of the temple, the meeting to discuss temple construction, thedigging of the foundation trench, and the hauling of the first load of stone from thequarry all occurred within 5 days of the revelation in section 95.

~Again, had their circumstances changed?Let’s read what Eliza R. snow had to say about it:

Quotation #5

~What is Heavenly Father teaching them, and us, as He asks us to do the impossible?

Remember when Paul went to the Lord with his weakness, his “thorn in the flesh”? ~What was the Lord’s response? (“My grace is sufficient for thee; for my

strength is made perfect in weakness” II Corinthians 12:7-9. In otherwords, we are weak, but He is able!)

~Does He ask us to do His work, or does He ask us to have faith that He can dHis work through us?

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is about Joshua, who took over from Moseand was commanded to lead the Israelites into the promised land —another one of those daunting tasks.

~Do you remember what lay between the Israelites and Canaan? (the Red SeaJoshua told them that God would again part the Red Sea for them, although none othese Israelites were there the first time)

~Did it part as they approached it? (no, the 12 men who bore the ark of thecovenant had to put their feet in the water first, see Joshua 3:15-16, p. 312)We, too, have to exercise our faith by getting our feet wet, which is what the Saints

did when they began to build the temple.Quotation #6

Just think, if you will, of something you may have been putting off that you know yoshouldn’t. Maybe it’s time to test the Lord! To see if He will open the way! Meanwhile, the Lord opened the way for these faithful Saints. I’ll give two examples

#1: John Tanner. In 1832 the Lord called Jared Carter on a mission. A lame man(John Tanner), attended one of their meetings with the intent to prove Mormonismfalse. He was touched by their preaching and took a Book of Mormon home. Here’s

what Jared Carter wrote in his journal:Quotation #7

Two years later Brother Tanner dreamed that he was needed and must go immedi-ately to Kirtland. So he sold his property and travelled 500 miles.

Quotation #8#2: Artemus Millet. His great-great grandson spoke of him during a BYU Idaho devotional in 2009:

Quotation #9



You get the idea. God can do His work, and if we are but willing, He will use usto do it! They began with 100 people, and by the time of the dedication there wereabout 1,300. The Kirland temple cost more per capita than any building in Americanreligious history. It was an unprecedented sacrifice, and it was met with an unprecedented outpouring of the Lord’s Spirit.

Quotation #10

The Savior appeared in five different meetings held in the temple, and you’ll just havto read Truman Madsen’s talk at the end of the handout if you’d like to know more.Suffice it to say that without the keys restored to the earth in the Kirtland temple, wwould not have temples today.

Quotation #11

Do we? There are two things I hope we walk away from this lesson with: The first isthe understanding that in whatever we’re asked to do all we have to do is our best,

believing that Heavenly Father will open the way before us. The second is the importance of doing temple work. I’m hoping we’ll have another lesson to get more intothat.Let me end with this thought by Karl Anderson who was assigned to visit the Louis-ville Kentucky Stake. He said that in the priesthood meeting a brother named WilliamWolf shared this experience:

Quotation #12

That we will not be ornery pecker woods is my prayer...

lesson 18: "establish...a house of god"

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