 |
| london, england temple |
Today, we can find many temples all
across the world. The Prambanan temple in Central Java, the famed Taj
Mahal and Lotus temples of India, and the Wat Rong Khun temple of
Thailand. All of these beautiful structures share a common purpose –
to serve as house of worship for religious followers. As members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we also have many
temples throughout the world. Today I would like to focus on five
reasons why we, as Latter-Day Saints, have temples.
1. It is a commandment from God
“From the days of the Old Testament,
the Lord has commanded His people to build temples-sacred structures
where He could teach, guide, and bless them.” The Lord commanded
the Israelites to build a portable temple to travel with them while
in the wilderness – the tabernacle. Exodus 25:8-9 “And let them
make 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.”
Other temples found in the Old Testament include the Temple of
Solomon and the Temple of Zerubbabel, where the righteous went to
perform sacred ordinances.
When Christ was on the earth, the only
remaining temple was the temple of Herod. Christ was often found in
this temple teaching and learning during his ministry. We first hear
of this in JST Luke 2:46 “And it came to pass, that after three
days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the
teachers, and they were hearing him, and asking him
questions.”
After Christ's ministry, there were no
temples on the earth until the church was restored here in the latter
days. When the saints were living in Kirtland, the Lord commanded the
Saints to build a temple. In D&C 95:8, 11, the Lord says “I
gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the
which house I design to endow those who I have chosen with power from
on high...It is my will that you should build a house. If you keep my
commandments you shall have power to build it.”
“Throughout history, the Lord has
commanded His people to build temples. Temples are literally houses
of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make
sacred promises with God.”
2. To make covenants
In the temple, we perform ordinances
that will allow us to live in the presence of God.
“Through the power of [the]
priesthood . . . , husband and wife may be sealed, or married for
eternity; children may be sealed to their parents for eternity; thus
the family is made eternal.”
—Joseph Fielding Smith
Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, February 1995
“In the temples, members of the
Church who make themselves eligible can participate in the most
exalted of the redeeming ordinances that have been revealed to
mankind.”
And I will give unto thee the keys of
the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.
—Matthew 16:19
“The only place on earth where we can
receive the fulness of the blessings of the priesthood is in the holy
temple. That is the only place where, through holy ordinances, we can
receive that which will qualify us for exaltation in the celestial
kingdom.” – Harold B. Lee
3. Serve the dead
Church members in Nauvoo found great
comfort in baptisms for the dead and the promise of eternal families.
One of these members was a sister named Sally Randall. When her
14-year-old son George died, she sent the sad news to family members.
Soon thereafter, she learned about baptism for the dead. Again she
wrote to her relatives, this time with newfound peace and assurance:
“[George’s] father has been
baptized for him and what a glorious thing it is that we believe and
receive the fulness of the gospel as it is preached now and can be
baptized for all of our dead friends and save them as far back as we
can get any knowledge of them. I want you [to] write me the given
names of all of our connections that are dead as far back as
grandfather’s and grandmother’s at any rate. I intend to do what
I can to save my friends. … I expect you will think this is strange
doctrine but you will find it to be true.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared: “The
greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to
seek after our dead. … :What is the object of [the coming of
Elijah]? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered,
the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the
Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as
saviors on Mount Zion [see Obadiah 1:21].
“But how are they to become saviors
on Mount Zion? By building their temples … and going forth and
receiving all the ordinances … in behalf of all their progenitors
who are dead … ; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of
the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which
fulfills the mission of Elijah”
D&C 128: 15 – And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters,
let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead
and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to
our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our
salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us
cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made
perfect.
4. To learn and gain broader
perspective
Boyd K. Packer: “Sometimes our minds
are so beset with problems, and there are so many things clamoring
for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see
clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out,
the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that
we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles
that we had not previously known.
“The Lord will bless us as we attend
to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not
be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our
affairs”
5. To be closer to our Heavenly
Father
“I think there is no place in the
world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy
temples.”
—President Thomas S. Monson
Old Testament temple – Exodus
40:34-45 “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able
to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode
thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”
Conclusion:
Elder
Oaks at the October 8th
groundbreaking of the Payson, Utah temple said: “This temple
will be His house. Here will be exercised the ordinances of His holy
priesthood. This is His work, His plan. This is His Church. The
ultimate purpose of this temple is the exaltation of the children of
God.”
