|
Lessons
from Temple Worship
Delivered
by
Steven J. Hiatt
Sacrament
Meeting, Sept. 8, 2002
The First Lesson
I want to begin with a simple question: what is the
purpose of the church? What is the ultimate goal of all our meetings,
activities and programs? The simplest answer is this – saving souls.
This church is here for the purpose of saving souls. Often we hear the
more descriptive explanation of the Lord, “For behold, this is my
work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man.” (Moses 1:39) What is another term for immortality and
eternal life? Salvation.
What does a person need to do to be saved? The
third Article of Faith gives us an idea. “We believe that through
the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the
laws and ordinances of the gospel.” So we see there are rules to
being saved, requirements to be met. What are the laws and ordinances
that are needed? The fourth Article of Faith tells us “the first
principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, faith in the lord
Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third, baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins, and fourth, the laying on of hands for the gift of
the Holy Ghost.”
We have missionaries that travel the world with the
purpose of helping people living on earth to develop faith, to repent,
and then to be baptized by water and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
But what happens to all those people who live and die before the
missionaries teach them? What happens to all those who lived on the
earth before there were missionaries? Do the rules still apply to them?
Does God exempt some from these requirements because they did not have
the opportunity, while requiring it of others?
God is unchangeable. His laws are immutable; they
are required of every soul. Are then some souls forever lost? Is not a
soul who has died as precious in the sight of God as a soul living
today? Are not all children of God? We have often read, “the worth
of souls is great in the sight of God.” (D&C 18:10)
The first lesson we learn from Temple work is that
God desires the salvation of all his children. And He has provided means
to accomplish this. First, the dead must be taught the gospel. President
Joseph F. Smith had a glorious vision in which he saw the Savior
visiting the spirit world after His death and before His resurrection.
In this vision we read, “But behold, from among the righteous, he
organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and
authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the
gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men;
and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.” (D&C 138:30)
Thus the dead were taught the gospel and could then
exercise faith and repent. But what about baptism by water? Water is
strictly an earthly substance. Baptism must be performed on earth. How
is this done? God allows vicariously by proxy. Vicariously? Meaning one
person filling in the place of another? Is that allowed? Yes. The
atonement of Christ is essentially a vicarious ordinance – Him
standing in for and making amends for the transgression of Adam,
standing in for and paying the price of our sins because we cannot do
this ourselves.
In the temple, a living person can stand in for and
be baptized for another who has died thus fulfilling that requirement.
Now, does this guarantee that that soul will be saved? No – it must be
accepted by the individual for whom the work is performed. We may never
know in this life if the ordinances we perform on behalf of others are
accepted. But we know this – ALL MUST BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE
SAVED.
The Second Lesson
The second lesson we learn from the temple is about
our eternal progression. Beyond baptisms, in the temple there are other
ordinances. In these higher ordinances we are endowed with knowledge
about God’s plan of salvation. We learn where we came from, we learn
about the creation of the Earth and it’s divine purpose, we learn
about the struggles we must face in this earthly life, and what we must
do to return to God.
The word ‘temple’ comes from the same root as
does the word ‘template’. What is a template? It is a pattern or
symbol of something else. The temple is a pattern or symbol of the plan
of salvation. Some have even called the temple “a scale model of the
universe,” because the temple depicts all of God’s creations. The
temple is where we get our bearings, to learn where we are, how we fit
into the plan, and which way we must be going.
This Earth is in a Telestial state. Heaven is a
Celestial state. In the temple we experience a Terrestrial state, a
place in between Heaven and Earth. The temple is a place set apart from
the wickedness of the world. It is a place where we learn how to get
from here to the Celestial world, where someday we will experience a
glorious homecoming. Our families, friends and loved ones will welcome
us in and rejoice over us. We get a feel of what that will be like in
the temple.
As our understanding of the gospel and the plan of
salvation increases, so does our understanding of those things that go
on inside the temple. When I was on my mission, my mission president
came up with a program of study where we would memorize certain passages
of scripture. To take up this challenge, I wrote down these scriptures
onto cards and carried these cards with me wherever I went. Whenever I
had a few moments, even walking from one house to the next, I would pull
out these cards and memorize the verses. As I did so, I would read the
same verse over and over again, and learn in word by word by word. The
more I studied these verses, the more understanding I would gain from
them. Often, by studying these verses I would begin to understand them
in ways that I hadn’t thought of before.
Before MaeLyn and I were married, and for the first
year or so of our marriage, we had the privilege of being temple workers
in the San Diego California Temple. We were in the temple every week and
would learn many of the ordinances, many word for word. In learning
these ordinances our understanding of the work grew, and our testimonies
of the plan of salvation increased. Each of us can learn the same way.
The more often we are in the temple, the better our understanding of the
plan of salvation.
The Third Lesson
The third thing we learn from temple work is that
families can be united eternally. This is one of the most unique
functions of the temple. In typically the highest rooms of the temple
are the highest ordinances performed. These special ordinances are
different than any others. They are concerned with the uniting of
families, not just for time, not just until death, but for time and all
eternity. Husbands and wives can be joined together; parents can be
sealed to their children. It is in these family relationships that the
strongest bonds of love are formed. These same relationships that we
enjoy here on earth can be enjoyed in the hereafter.
This idea of the sealing together of families has
been around since the very beginning of the Restoration. In the Doctrine
and Covenants, what is the very first section chronologically? We know
that section one was given to be a preface to the publication of the
collection of revelations that had been previously received. Section two
is the earliest. It is an excerpt from the words spoken by Moroni to
Joseph Smith on the night of September 22, 1824. This was before the
church was organized, before the Book of Mormon was translated. This was
before everything else save the First Vision. It reads, “Behold, I
will reveal unto the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet,
before the coming and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in
the hearts of children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts
of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the
whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”
It is this idea of the hearts of the children
turning to their fathers that refers to the great sealing work done
inside the temples. This work is so important that these verses are
repeated in all of our standard works. In the Bible it is found in
Malachi, the very last verses of the Old Testament. In the Book of
Mormon, when the Savior visits the Nephites, he gives them these same
verses to add to their record. We read about this in Third Nephi. In the
Doctrine and Covenants we have them in section two that I just read. And
in the Pearl of Great Price it is included in Joseph Smith’s History,
during the visit of Moroni. These verses are everywhere, you can’t
miss them!
As I
thought about this topic I wondered, “why do we seal families at all?
Why cannot just everyone who is saved live together in heaven and be
happy? Why do we go through the extra step of sealing families
together?” In the Proclamation to the World on the Family, we learn
about the importance that the Lord places on families. In it we learn,
“the family is ordained of God.” and “The family is
central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”
The family is the basic unit of the gospel. Currently in the Church, we
are organized in wards and stakes. But sometimes people move from one
ward to another, sometimes the ward or stake boundaries change. But our
family is the one unit that we always belong to. In heaven we will be
organized according to our families. And that is what makes this work so
important.
The Fourth Lesson
MaeLyn and I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to
be in the temple and to participate in these sealing ordinances. Our own
Brother Moffitt, father of Brother Moffitt in the bishopric, was the
officiator who conducted our session. It is always a wonderful
experience to sit in one of these sacred rooms with one who has been
given the sealing power of the priesthood. It is awesome to think of the
blessings that are promised and of the souls who have waited in the
spirit world for their work to be completed. It is humbling to be a part
of so great a work.
Brother Moffitt has been given the power to bind on
earth and in heaven but this work can only be done in the temple. If he
were alone in the temple, even with the priesthood he has been given, he
could do nothing. He is there in the temple ready to do his part to move
this work along; we need to be there to help. And the work will not be
finished until the temple work is completed for all.
It is in the temple where we directly involved in
the salvation of souls. Do we have the time to spend in the temple? Do
we have other important things to do? I am sure there are many important
demands on our time but remember – “the worth of souls is great
in the sight of God.” The time we spend seeking out our ancestors,
and the time we spend in the temple completing the work for them is of
great worth in the eyes of God.
The final lesson we learn from temple work is that
it is in the great work of helping to save other souls that we end up
saving our own.
May we all do our part to move this work along is
my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
|
|
|
The
Temple: Then and Now
Delivered
by
MaeLyn M. Hiatt
Sacrament Meeting, Sept. 8, 2002
The temple is a place for God to manifest himself
to his people. It is a
place for people to go to learn God’s will for them.
The Kirtland temple and other temples today have much in common
with the first temple that was built.
God
Commanded Men To Build Him A Temple
Anciently, when men wanted to speak with God, they climbed to the
top of a large mountain. But
eventually God commanded men to build him a house on earth, called a
temple. The first temple we
have record of is the tabernacle. When
the Israelites were freed from captivity in Egypt and set off to build
their own nation as a people, God commanded the prophet Moses to have
them build a temple. He
said, “And let them build me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the
tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so
shall ye make it.” (Exodus 25:8-9)
Three years after the Church was restored and organized in the
latter days, the Lord commanded his saints to build him a temple in
Kirtland. He commanded the
prophet Joseph Smith, “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful
thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of
fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a
house of order, a house of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:119)
God
Gave Instructions On How To Build The Temple
When the Israelites were commanded to build a temple, there
wasn’t any model for them to follow; there had never been a temple in
existence before. So the
Lord gave them specific instructions on how to build it.
Following the Lord’s commandment to build the temple in the
book of Exodus, the next seven chapters detail exactly how the Lord
wanted his house to be built including what materials to use and what
size everything should be.
When the Saints began to build the temple in 1833, the Lord also
gave instructions as to how he wanted his house to be built.
Joseph once asked a group of high priests how they thought the
temple should be built. Some
suggested a frame house while others wanted it to be made of logs.
“Shall we, brethren,” said Joseph, “build a house for our
God, of logs? No I have a
better plan than that. I
have a plan of the house of the Lord, given by himself; and you will
soon see by this, the difference between our calculations and his idea
of things.” Truman
O Angell, who also contributed to the building of the Salt Lake temple,
said that when the First Presidency knelt to pray, “the Building
appeared within viewing distance.”
After the temple was completed, Frederick G. Williams affirmed
that the temple “coincided in every detail with the vision given to
them.” (Church History In
The Fulness of Times pp162-163)
The
Materials Used in the Temple Were the Best Available
The materials used to build the tabernacle and the Kirtland
temple were very different. When
the Israelites were preparing to leave Egypt, the Lord commanded them to
borrow jewels, gold, silver, etc. from their neighbors (see Exodus 11:2)
so when they left, they had a lot of
valuable things to use in building the temple. The compact,
portable structure was made of the finest woods overlaid with gold and
hung with fine twined linen. When
the Lord commanded them to donate what they had to build the temple,
they donated so much that Moses had to tell them to stop because they
had more than they could use. (see Exodus 36:6-7)
The Saints building the Kirtland Temple were not nearly as
wealthy, but they also gave all they had to build the temple.
Men cut stone for the temple at the quarry and on Saturdays they
would bring their wagons to hall the stone from the quarry to the temple
site. They donated much of
their time to the building of the temple.
The women also helped by sewing the curtains and clothes for the
men working. They also
donated their fine glassware to be crushed and mixed in with the paint
so the temple would shine.
Although the Kirtland temple was not as richly
adorned as the Tabernacle, God accepted it.
Elder James E. Talmage said, “Whether it be the gift of a man
or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent, is
always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison
that best may be.”
The
Placement of the Temple
The tabernacle was erected in the center of the Israelite camp,
with all the tribes of Israel facing it.
It was the center of their lives.
It should also be the center of our lives today.
President Howard W. Hunter said, “I also invite the members of
the Church to establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of
their membership and the supernal setting for their most sacred
covenants. It would be the
deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple
worthy.”
The
Structure of the Tabernacle
All the world lived outside the camp of the
Israelites, but only the Israelites were permitted inside the camp. Likewise, only worthy Israelites were permitted to enter the
Court which surrounded the Tabernacle.
In this court was the sacrificial altar where the daily
sacrifices were made and the laver where the priests washed their hands
and feet before entering the tabernacle.
Inside the tabernacle were two rooms.
The first room was called the Holy Place and only the priests
were allowed to enter. The
Holy Place contained an altar where incense was burned morning and
evening, a candlestick where lamps were lit in the evening and trimmed
in the morning, and the shewbread.
Dividing the Holy Place from the next room was a
veil. The veil was made of
fine linens, and was decorated with pictures of cherubim or angels as
though they were standing sentinel, guarding the entrance to the Holy of
Holies. The High Priest only entered this last room once a year on the
Day of Atonement. The Holy
of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant, which held the stone
tablets on which the Lord wrote the law.
The lid of the ark was called the Mercy Seat.
It had two cherubim facing inward with their wings spread to
cover the lid. It is
between these cherubim that the Lord would sit to talk with the High
Priest. The Lord said,
“And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the
ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in
commandment unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:22)
Worthiness
to Enter the Temple
Because the Tabernacle was the place where the Lord
would come to speak with his people, only those who were worthy were
permitted to come near. “Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean
hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully. He
shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God
of his salvation.” (Psalm 24:3-5) In latter days as well, only those
who are worthy are permitted to enter the house of the Lord.
Today we have interviews with a member of the bishopric as well
as a member of the stake presidency to assess our worthiness.
We are asked to ponder questions such as whether or not we
believe in God and his son Jesus Christ, If we have a testimony of the
Restoration of the gospel, if we are living such commandments as the
Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, and paying a full tithe.
This way we can be sure that only those who are worthy can enter
the presence of the Lord.
The Priests of the Tabernacle also had to be worthy
to perform their duties. They
were washed, anointed and ordained to their positions.
“And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water…Then
shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint
him. And thou shalt bring
his sons, and put coats upon them.
And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and
put the bonnets on them: and the priests office shall be theirs for a
perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.”
(Exodus 29:4,7-9)
The
Function of the Temple
The Israelites were commanded to make animal sacrifices at the
tabernacle. The Law of
Sacrifice was not new: it had been given to Adam.
“And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam,
saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?
And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of
the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace
and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of
the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore." (Moses
5:6-8)
The Lord gave the Israelites a complex system of sacrifices to
help them remember Christ. The
sacrifices usually involved an unblemished male ram, goat or sheep.
Unintentional sins were “paid for” by a sacrifice made by the
sinner himself each day. The
priests made sacrifices for unintentional sins of the entire
congregation and the blood from the sacrifice was sprinkled in the Holy
Place. Only the High Priest
could make the sacrifice for intentional sins, and he only did it once a
year on the Day of Atonement and the blood was placed on the altar in
the tabernacle. Other
offerings included meat offerings, peace offerings, thank offerings, vow
offerings and freewill offerings. The
bible dictionary says, “Sacrifices were … instructive as well as
worshipful. They were
accompanied by prayer, devotion and dedication, and represented an
acknowledgement on the part of the individual of his duty toward God,
and also a thankfulness to the Lord for his life and blessings upon the
earth.” The apostle Paul
said “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ”
(Galatians 3:24)
Today even though we aren’t required to make blood sacrifices,
we are asked to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
We are required to repent of our sins and take the sacrament to
remind us of Christ. Bruce
D. Porter tells a story of a sister who learned the meaning of the
sacrament: (See Bruce D. Porter, “The First Principles and Ordinances
of the Gospel,” Ensign, Oct. 2000, 8) When we go to the temple
today, we are still reminded of Christ and of our need for his atoning
sacrifice to be forgiven of our sins and permitted to return to the
presence of our Father in Heaven.
The
Lord Accepts His House
When the tabernacle was completed, the Lord showed that he
accepted the house built for him by causing a cloud to descend over the
tabernacle. A cloud hovered
over the tabernacle by day and a pillar of fire appeared at night to
show all the world that the God of the Israelites was with them.
He also used the cloud to show the Israelites where to go in
their journeys through the wilderness. (see Exodus 40:34-38)
When the Kirtland temple was completed and dedicated, the Lord
also manifested himself to the people to show that he accepted the house
built for him. After the
dedicatory prayer had been offered, many people saw angels in the
temple, many heard a sound like the rushing mighty wind, people spoke in
tongues and prophesied. People
outside the temple saw a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon
the temple. The prophet
Joseph wrote, “The Savior made his appearance to some, while angels
ministered to others, and it was a Pentecost and an endowment indeed,
long to be remembered, for the sound shall go forth from this place into
all the world, and occurrences of this day shall be handed down upon the
pages of sacred history, to all generations.” (History of the Church,
2:427-33) Also Moses, Elias
and Elijah appeared in this temple to confer their priesthood keys upon
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
The temple is still the house of the Lord.
Like in the days of the Israelites and the tabernacle, the temple
is where we go to learn God’s will for us, to remember the Savior and
his atonement, to serve others, and to prepare to enter into the
presence of God. |
|