This lesson centers on temples and how important they are in our lives.
- How many temples were built before the gospel was restored?
- Four
- Temple of Solomon
- Also known as the Temple of Zerubbabel and the Temple of Herod
- Temple of Solomon
- The temple built by Nephi after the Nephites separated from the Lamanites
- The temple built in Zarahemla where King Benjamin gave his final address
- The temple in Bountiful where the Lord appeared to the Nephites after His resurrection
- Four
- Five
- Kirtland
- Independence
- Far West
- Adam-ondi-Ahman
- Nauvoo
- 141 in operation
- 13 currently being constructed
- 16 additional have been announced
The main focus of this lesson is on one temple in particular, the Kirtland Temple.
In December 1832, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to build a temple.
D&C 88:119
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;
Five months after this revelation was received, not much work had been done on the temple and the Lord chastised the saints, which is found in D&C 95. After this rebuke from the Lord, the saints put their full energy into building the temple the Lord had commanded them to build.
Since the Kirtland Temple was the first temple built in this dispensation, there were certain challenges associated with its building.
- What were some of the challenges and sacrifices associated with building the Kirtland Temple?
- The people were very poor
- Mobs came at night to vandalize the temple
- Men stayed awake at night to guard the temple
- The saints gave all their available money and time to working on the temple
Handout #1 – Because the members of the Church were so poor, they had to sacrifice much to build the Kirtland Temple. Almost all the men who could work and who were not away on missions helped build the temple. Joseph Smith was foreman in the quarry where the stone for the walls was cut. On Saturdays the men who had horses and wagons hauled stone from the quarry to the temple site so the stonemasons would have enough stone to work with during the week.
Many people worked on the temple every day. Because they were giving all their available money to build the temple, sometimes the workers did not have very much food or nice clothing to wear.
Handout #2 – Daniel Tyler recalled: “How often have I seen those humble, faithful servants of the Lord, after toiling all day in the quarry, or on the building, when the walls were in [the] course of erection, weary and faint, yet with cheerful countenances, retiring to their homes with a few pounds of corn meal that had been donated. And, in the case of those who lacked a cow to give a little milk, the corn meal was sometimes, for days together, all that they and their families had to subsist upon. When a little flour, butter or meat came in, they were luxuries. Sometimes a little … molasses … would be donated, but oftener the hands had to seek a job elsewhere to get a gallon or so, and then return to the labor on the temple” (quoted in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland: Eyewitness Accounts, p. 161).
Handout #3 – Work on the temple went forward but not without difficulty. Under the cover of darkness, vandals attempted to destroy the walls then under construction. Because of further threatened mob violence, those who worked on the temple by day guarded it at night to protect what they had built. Night after night for many weeks, Heber C. Kimball recalled, “We . . . were not permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged to lay with our fire locks in our arms.”[9] Sidney Rigdon later described how the Saints “had wet those walls with their tears, when, in the silent shades of the night, they were praying to the God of heaven to protect them, and stay the unhallowed hands of ruthless spoilers, who had uttered a prophesy [sic] . . . that the walls should never be erected.”[10]
While the saints sacrificed much and went through many hardships during the building of the Kirtland Temple, they received many blessings.
- In what ways were the saints blessed for their faithfulness?
Handout #4 – With the completion of the temple, the Lord poured out powerful spiritual blessings upon the Saints in Kirtland, including visions and the ministering of angels. Joseph Smith called this period “a year of jubilee to us, and a time of rejoicing.” Daniel Tyler testified, “All felt that they had a foretaste of heaven. … We wondered whether the millennium had commenced.”
The pinnacle of this outpouring of the Spirit was the dedication of the temple. An estimated 1,000 people gathered at the temple on 27 March 1836 in a spirit of rejoicing. Dedicatory anthems were sung, including “The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning,” which was written for the occasion by William W. Phelps. The sacrament was administered, and sermons were delivered by Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, and others.
Handout #5 – Joseph Smith read the dedicatory prayer, now recorded as Doctrine and Covenants section 109, which was given to him by revelation. In it he pleaded with the Lord that he would bless the people as he had on the day of Pentecost: “And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory” (D&C 109:37). Many recorded that this prayer was fulfilled that evening when the Prophet met in the temple with members of the priesthood quorums.
Handout #6 – Eliza R. Snow wrote: “The ceremonies of that dedication may be rehearsed, but no mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day. Angels appeared to some, while a sense of divine presence was realized by all present, and each heart was filled with ‘joy inexpressible and full of glory.’” After the dedicatory prayer, the entire congregation rose and, with uplifted hands, shouted hosannas.
Handout #7 – One week [after the dedication of the temple], on 3 April 1836, some of the most significant events in latter-day history occurred. In the temple on that day, the Savior himself appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said, “Behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (D&C 110:7). Other great and glorious visions followed as Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to restore additional keys of the priesthood. Moses bestowed the keys of the gathering of Israel, Elias committed to Joseph and Oliver the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and Elijah restored the keys of sealing (see D&C 110:11–16). All these additional keys were necessary for the progress of the Lord’s kingdom in the final dispensation of time.
The Kirtland Temple was dedicated on March 27, 1836 and the dedicatory prayer was recorded as D&C 109. The dedication lasted 7 hours and consisted of the dedicatory prayer, hymns, many people sharing their testimonies, a sacrament service, sermons and the sustaining of the prophet and other church leaders.
- Why do we dedicate temples?
- To set them apart from other buildings and other houses of worship
- To make them special and sacred places to worship the Lord
- What becomes different after a temple is dedicated?
- Only persons with a valid temple recommend can enter the temple
- The temple then becomes a place where sacred ordinances can be performed
- It becomes a literal house of the Lord
- In the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith laid out some of the responsibilities church members have in regards to temples. What responsibilities did the Prophet mention?
- D&C 109:7
- And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;
- Seek diligently to learn by study and faith
- And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;
- D&C 109:20-21
- 20 And that no unclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy house to pollute it;
- 21 And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house.
- We must be clean to enter into the temple
- D&C 109:7
- D&C 109:23
- And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
- We must share the gospel and the blessings of the temple with others
- And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
- D&C 109:15
- And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;
- The Lord’s people will receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost
- And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;
- D&C 109:22
- And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
- Those who do temple work will receive the power of the Lord and will be watched over by angels
- And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
- D&C 109:25-26
- 25 That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;
- 26 That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house;
- No weapon or wickedness will prevail over the Lord’s people
- D&C 109:32-33
- 32 Therefore we plead before thee for a full and complete deliverance from under this yoke;
- 33 Break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.
- Those who attend the temple will receive assistance from the Lord in overcoming and bearing their burdens and afflictions
- D&C 109:54-57
- 54 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever.
- 55 Remember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the churches, all the poor, the needy, and afflicted ones of the earth;
- 56 That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all;
- 57 That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;
- The Lord would have mercy on the nations of the earth, softening the hearts of the people to prepare them for the gospel message
- D&C 109:61-64
- 61 But thou knowest that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been scattered upon the mountains for a long time, in a cloudy and dark day.
- 62 We therefore ask thee to have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that Jerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed;
- 63 And the yoke of bondage may begin to be broken off from the house of David;
- 64 And the children of Judah may begin to return to the lands which thou didst give to Abraham, their father.
- The scattered children of Israel would be gathered and redeemed
- D&C 109:72-74
- 72 Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;
- 73 That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
- 74 And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
- The Lord’s church will fill the entire earth
The dedicatory prayer continues to provide blessings today, as evidenced by comments from President Howard W. Hunter.
Handout #8 – President Howard W. Hunter, the 14th President of the Church, described these promises in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple as “stirring and wonderful” (“The Great Symbol of Our Membership,” Ensign, Oct. 1994, 5). This prayer, he said, “continues to be answered upon us individually, upon us as families, and upon us as a people because of the priesthood power the Lord has given us to use in His holy temples” (Ensign, Oct. 1994, 4).
After the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, the Lord showed His acceptance of the temple by fulfilling His promise to ‘endow His servants with power from on high’ once the temple was completed.
- In what ways did the Lord endow His servants with power from on high once the Kirtland Temple was completed and dedicated?
- He appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple
- An outpouring of the spirit upon the Saints
- The many revelations received by the Saints and church leaders
- The restoration of priesthood keys
The appearance of the Lord to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery is recorded in D&C 110. The first part of that chapter gives a physical description of the Lord.
D&C 110:1-3
1 The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.
2 We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
3 His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
In the next verse, the Lord identified Himself to them.
D&C 110:4
I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.
After identifying Himself and saying a few words to Joseph and Oliver, the Lord expressed His approval for the temple the saints had built.
D&C 110:6-10
6 Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.
7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
8 Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
9 Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
10 And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.
After the Lord departed, other messengers appeared to Joseph and Oliver.
D&C 110:11-16
11 After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.
12 After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.
13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:
14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—
15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—
16 Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.
- Which messengers appeared?
- Moses
- Elias
- Elijah
- For what purpose did they appear?
- To restore priesthood keys
- Moses – the keys of the gathering of Israel
- The authority to preach the gospel and gather Israel (missionary work)
- Moses – the keys of the gathering of Israel
- Elias – the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham
- The blessings of the Abrahamic covenant and the responsibilities associated with that covenant
- Elijah – the keys of the sealing power
- The power that makes priesthood ordinances valid in heaven. The sealing power makes possible temple marriage, sealings to children and ancestors, eternal families, and temple ordinance work for the dead.
- To restore priesthood keys
Since the building of the Kirtland Temple, temples have spread across the United States and have begun to go throughout the world. In 1980, there were 19 temples and by the end of 1997, there were 51. At the end of 2000, there were 102 temples, passing President Hinckley’s desire to have 100 temples up and operating by the end of 2000.
Along with the presidency of the church putting emphasis on making more temples available to worthy church members, they have also put a strong emphasis on members participating in temple work.
Handout #9 – Worthy Church members today are among the “choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in … the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein.”
- In what ways can we help accelerate temple work?
- Attend the temple regularly, or as often as you can manage
- Work on your genealogy (www.familysearch.org)
- Compile a personal history
- Work on a family history
- Index census records (www.familysearch.org)
There are a variety of different ways we can all participate in temple work, whether or not a temple is close by. The Lord has provided a way for each of us to help in His work and will bless us for each bit we do.
The temple is a wonderful place that we should all strive to enter. Even if we can only go once in our life, we will be greatly blessed for doing so.
President Howard W. Hunter spoke some encouraging words for all members of the church to heed.
Handout #10 – President Howard W. Hunter said: “Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us” (Ensign, Oct. 1994, 5).
I’m very thankful for the temple and the work that is done there. I am thankful for the ordinances and covenants that we are able to learn about and enter into while in the temple. I am thankful that the Lord has a plan for making temples accessible to all members of the church some day and I am thankful that the Lord has provided a way for those who do not have a chance to make it to the temple or hear of His gospel to be able to receive the ordinances necessary for Exaltation. The temple is very special to me and I am thankful that the Lord has provided a way, through temple work, for my family to be sealed together for time and all eternity. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Related articles
- Gospel Doctrine Lesson 13 – “This Generation Shall Have My Words Through You” (welcometoerinsworld.wordpress.com)
- Gospel Doctrine Lesson 17 – “The Law of Tithing and the Law of the Fast” (welcometoerinsworld.wordpress.com)
